Rita Manchanda shifts the focus away from the victimhood discourse (such as The Grieving Mother) and explores women's agency for both peace and conflict. The book is structured around six narratives of women negotiating violent politics in their everyday lives.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Where are women in South Asia conflicts? / Rita Manchanda -- Guns and burqa : women in the Kashmir Conflict / Rita Manchanda -- Ambivalent empowerment : the tragedy of Tamil women in conflict / Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake -- Between two armed patriarchies : women in Assam and Nagaland / Paula Banerjee -- 'They use us and others abuse us' : women in the MQM conflict / Anis Haroon -- Where there are no men : women in the Maoist insurgency in Nepal / Shobha Gautam, Amrita Banskota and Rita Manchanda -- Women's narratives from the Chittagong Hill tracts / Meghna Guhathakurta.