Gender Equality Norms In Regional Governance

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This book investigates the diffusion of gender equality norms in and between the European Union (EU), South America and Southern Africa. It offers an in-depth analysis of the trajectories of norms on gender-based violence and gender mainstreaming of aid and trade. The study proposes a novel theoretical framework that enables scholars to grasp the constant renegotiation of gender equality norms in the dynamics between transnational, national and (inter)regional actor constellations.

Moving beyond the predominant 'global-local' approach, it conceptualizes norm diffusion as a multidirectional and polycentric process. The empirical chapters show how new geometries of transnational activism have developed. Last but not least, the text explores how the landscapes through which norms travel impact on the norms as well as on their diffusion, revealing the underlying logics that explain the differences in the strengths of gender equality norms as well as the differences between the EU, Mercosur, Organization of American States and Southern African Development Community.

Review: The book succeeds in bringing together research on transnational norm diffusion with comparative regionalism. The combination provides a fresh perspective on how global norms of gender equality are contested and negotiated when they travel from the global to the regional level. Professor Tanja A.

Borzel, Jean Monnet Chair and Director of the Center for European Integration, Freie Universitat Berlin, Germany Bringing together insights from international relations, feminist scholarship, policy analysis, social movement theory and development studies, this book develops a novel theoretical framework to examine the contribution of regional norms and governance institutions to the advancement of gender equality.

Drawing on the meso-level of regional governance in the EU, the OAS and Mercosur in South America, and SADC in Southern Africa, the book shows how norms translate, travel, and change in the dynamics between transnational, national, regional and interregional actors. Feminist scholars, social movement specialists, and students of transnational governance will all profit from this rich collection of interdisciplinary research.

Sidney Tarrow, Emeritus Professor of Political Science and Sociology, Department of Government, Cornell University, USA This innovative study brings together insights from regional institutionalism and norm diffusion to illuminate the complex geometry of global gender equality norms. Employing a unique comparative empirical examination of four regional institutions, the collection reveals the multi-level, multi-actor, and multi-directional processes of gendered norm diffusion.

Study results decenter assumptions of European dominance and reveal the importance of long-term engagement by flexible, principled feminist networks. Elisabeth Jay Friedman, Professor of Politics and Latin American Studies, University of San Francisco