scholarly journals Building Transnational Feminist Alliances: Reflections on the Post-2015 Development Agenda

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 255-273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Awino Okech ◽  
Dinah Musindarwez
Keyword(s):  
Women's Rights ◽  
Women’S Rights ◽  
Gender Justice ◽  
Women's Development ◽  
Policy Advocacy ◽  
Feminist Activism ◽  
2030 Agenda ◽  
Development Agenda ◽  
Movement Building ◽  
And Gender

Abstract This article reflects on transnational feminist organising by drawing on the experiences of the African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET) during the consultations leading up to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. First, we re-examine some of the debates that have shaped the field of women’s rights, feminist activism and gender justice in Africa, and the enduring legacies of these discourses for policy advocacy. Second, we analyse the politics of movement-building and the influence of development funding, and how they shape policy discourses and praxis in respect of women’s rights and gender justice. Third, we problematise the nature of transnational feminist solidarity. Finally, drawing on scholarship about transnational feminist praxis as well as activism, we distil some lessons for feminist policy advocacy across geo-political divides.

What Are Women’s Rights Good For? Contesting and Negotiating Gender Cultures in Southern Africa

2015 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 97-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Van Allen
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Women's Rights ◽  
Gender Violence ◽  
Legal Rights ◽  
Women’S Rights ◽  
Gender Justice ◽  
Policy Shift ◽  
Good For ◽  
And Gender

Abstract:Currently, feminist activists are engaged in problematizing and reframing “rights” claims in southern Africa. This article discusses three cases of such activism, all of which show the limitations but also the potential of using rights claims to transform gender cultures and gain economic and gender justice. These cases involve the successful challenge to the gender discriminatory 1982 Botswana Citizenship Act; the policy shift of Women and Law in Southern Africa from a focus on legal rights advocacy to a synthesis of rights and kinship-based claims; and initiatives by South African gender activists to confront the contradiction between the country’s constitutional guarantees of women’s rights and high levels of gender violence.

The Long Road to Gender Equality

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 512-518
Author(s):  
Mary Daly
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equality ◽  
Women's Rights ◽  
Women’S Rights ◽  
Gender Justice ◽  
Gender Policies ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Class And Status ◽  
Global And Local ◽  
Geographical Scope ◽  
Roll Out

Abstract This piece reflects upon the significance of The Logics of Gender Justice. I make the case that this is one of the most significant works on the development of women's rights and gender justice. It offers depth of understanding of the policy and politics precipitating or blocking the roll-out of a range of such rights across time and place. Its geographical scope is both global and local. It offers a framework of analysis and a set of empirical insights that will galvanize scholarship, and not just in the field of gender. I am particularly intrigued by the differentiation between class- and status-based gender policies. I can see promise here—especially from a politics perspective—but to my mind this is not a watertight differentiation between policies. The possibility of an intersectional understanding of gender-related rights and policies is also downplayed by the Htun and Weldon's framework on my reading.

State, Islam, and Gender Politics

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Women's Rights ◽  
Socioeconomic Development ◽  
Women’S Rights ◽  
Dress Code ◽  
Main Site ◽  
Muslim Countries ◽  
Personal Rights ◽  
The Status ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Economy And Education

The existing literature on women’s rights and Islam falls short of addressing the relationship between the religious debate on women’s rights and the existing rules of law in Muslim-majority countries. This chapter will bridge this gap by analyzing the status of women in the legal systems of Egypt, Turkey, and Morocco. It will evaluate the influence of Islam on the shaping of these laws, compared to other factors like culture, socioeconomic development, and education. Except in marginal cases like Saudi Arabia or Afghanistan under the Taliban, women’s rights in politics, the economy, and education have advanced in all Muslim countries. But there are some limitations placed upon women’s rights using religious arguments. Everywhere, personal rights about family life, sexuality, and dress code remain discriminatory against women. In this regard, the woman’s body has become the main site of the politicization of Islam, by state and non-state actors alike.

Islam, Gender, and Democracy in Comparative Perspective

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Comparative Literature ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Gender Inequality ◽  
Women's Rights ◽  
Women’S Rights ◽  
Muslim Countries ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Shed Light

This volume reframes the debate around Islam and women’s rights within a broader comparative literature. It examines the complex and contingent historical relationships between religion, secularism, democracy, law, and gender equality. Part I addresses the nexus of religion, law, gender, and democracy through different disciplinary perspectives (sociology, anthropology, political science, law). Part II localizes the implementation of this nexus between law, gender, and democracy, and provides contextualized responses to questions raised in Part I. The contributors explore the situation of Muslim women’s rights vis-à-vis human rights to shed light on gender politics in the modernization of the nation and to ponder over the role of Islam in gender inequality across different Muslim countries.

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