Theory of the Counterinsurgent Girl

Argues that War-on-Terror cultural and military strategies have shifted from 'saving' women to 'empowering' girls in the global South.

This Element theorizes the emergence of the girl as the subject of Western imperialist power. In 1983, Gayatri Spivak denounced imperialism as a practice of 'white men saving brown women from brown men.' During the global war on terrorism, the development and military establishment shifted its practices and rhetoric in response to her critique.Argues that hegemonic Western cultural and military strategies have moved away from 'saving' women to 'empowering' girls, and traces the rise to dominance of the figure of the agential girl, analyzing how she has been incorporated into decision-making, securitizing, and policing operations as both a surveillance tool and a social justice goal.