REGEND (Re-gendering Diplomacy)

International politics is thoroughly gendered, and diplomacy is second only to the military in degree of masculinization. However, the strong association of diplomacy with masculinized traits and men is paradoxical when considering that until the 18th century, women were active and acknowledged participants in negotiations, communication and representations, practices later considered at the core of diplomacy. Between the middle of the 17th century and the middle of the 19th century, women were forced out of official diplomacy. Given diplomacy’s concern with peaceful interactions, listening and sociality, and given women’s historical importance in such international interactions, why and how did official diplomacy become masculinized and practiced exclusively by men? This is the core question motivating REGEND. This question is central for our historical understanding of the institution of diplomacy, but it is also central for our understanding of the contemporary gendering and re-inclusion of women into diplomacy.