April 20, 2004

Wellesley, MA—The Jean Baker Miller Training Institute at the Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW) will host international scholar and journalist Victoria Firmo-Fontan in a special presentation, “Polarization Between Occupier and Occupied in Post-Saddam Iraq: Humiliation and the Formation of Political Violence” on Friday, April 23, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Stone Center. Recently returned from Iraq, Firmo-Fontan will provide an analysis of the mechanisms that have led to drastic polarization between Iraqis and members of the “occupying” international community a year after the start of the war. Based on participant observation in Fallujah and other parts of the Sunni trianagle, Firmo-Fontan will explore how the dynamics of humiliation and the Iraqi code of honor have resulted in biased media reporting and a steady escalation of violence.

Victoria Firmo-Fontan is a post-doctoral research fellow at Sabanci University in Turkey and will be presenting at WCW’s international conference on violation against women from April 25 to 28. She has published papers on multi-track diplomacy, human trafficking, the public diplomacy of armed groups, and the formation of political violence in post-conflict societies, focusing primarily on the effects of social, gendered, cultural, economic, and political humiliation.

The Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW) is the world’s largest women’s research organization and is a resource for expert opinion, analysis, and recommended action on an array of issues, including national and international gender violence, women and leadership, women's psychological growth and development, gender equitable education, out-of-school time, and child and adolescent self-identity and development.

2004 marks 30 years of groundbreaking work at WCW, work that has generated changes in policies, practices, and attitudes by presenting innovative ways of looking at critical issues.