Conclusion

Abstract

Abstract This final chapter considers the implications and consequences of Islamic State’s (IS) intra-gender stratified governance in light of the territorial collapse of its ‘caliphate’. While scholars and policymakers continue to investigate the membership and roles of pro-IS women, the voices and concerns of local civilian women continue to be overlooked as vital evidence of the group’s activities, and as realities of conflict that need to be addressed and reconciled in recovery efforts. The narratives of diverse civilian women interviewed for this study provide not only new data, but also new perspectives from which to analyse rebel governance, conflict, and insecurity. They deconstruct the monolithic category of ‘woman’ in IS’s documentation, instead revealing that the stratification of women was integral to the functioning and legitimation of IS’s ‘caliphate’ project, the consequences of which continue to pose significant challenges in the post-occupation context.