Women's Movement

The term women's movement refers to any form of organizing, mainly by women, for the purpose of bringing about social change in which gender justice constitutes a crucial part either as a goal in and of itself (e.g., women's emancipation), as a means to achieve wider goals (e.g., development), or as inseparable from other struggles (e.g., antiracist and anticolonial projects). Broadening conventional definitions of social movements to other forms of organizing allows for the inclusion of multiple and varied women's collective action, from small-scale neighborhood-grassroots organizations to international feminist groups participating in the antiglobalization movement.

Viewed from this perspective, and contrary to the writing of many social movements and globalization scholars, women's movements are not “new movements” and their globalization is not a recent phenomenon. By the last quarter of the 19th century, a period called the first wave of globalization, women in many countries of Europe, North America, and Latin America were already engaged in social reform movements that aimed at the “betterment of society,” including women's political, educational, and economic rights. From their inception, many of these efforts were transnational. Women formed various types of cooperation across national borders: They exchanged information, sustained international campaigns, held frequent conferences, and established formal international organizations. They were an integral and highly noticeable part of the nascent global civil society. Some notable examples are the International Women's Suffrage Association and the socialist women's movement; the latter was made up of women who worked inside a male-dominated movement to promote women's rights within a broader socialist agenda.

With the transforming global context, the number of these organizations has increased and their mode of action has changed. Following World War I, the formation of the International Labour Organization and the League of Nations (the first broadly inclusive intergovernmental organizations) led to a proliferation of transnational activity, providing a focal point for promoting women's rights. This transnational action, taking place mainly in Europe, North America, and Latin America, was carried out mostly by formal and centralized organizations that set up headquarters and national chapters and were usually staffed by White women from high socioeconomic status backgrounds.

This scene was transformed dramatically following World War II and much more so after the 1980s. With the changing modes and degrees of globalization, in terms of interconnectedness; increasing flows of capital, ideas, and people; and consolidation of international organizations of various sorts, the transnational women's movement has changed as well.

First, women's groups from Asia and Africa, as well as women of nonprivileged groups from Europe and North America, began playing a major role within the movement, introducing new issues, shifting its agenda, and changing its priorities. The notion of “global sisterhood” was replaced by recognition of difference and diversity.

Second, if the main players were once large hierarchical organizations, now we witness a multiplicity of modes of action, structures, and strategies, varying from bodies that operate as open, nonhierarchical, nonbureaucratic networks to transnational [Page 1793]solidarity groups and grassroots activists linking their local struggles with global discourses such as human rights. One can observe transnational activism related to the UN conferences and nongovernmental organization forums attempting to highlight gender issues and to influence world politics (e.g., in matters such as human rights, global population policy, development, and environmental global agendas). Concurrently, networks of grassroots organizations fighting violence and poverty are focusing on empowering women's capacities through sharing local strategies, knowledge, and expertise with other local areas and regions (e.g., alliances between women in the townships of South Africa and the slums of India). Some employ “mainstreaming” strategies by working for change within the existing order and institutions to integrate a gender-equality perspective across all areas of policy (e.g., working with the United Nations, the European Union, and development agencies), while others “disengage” and remain outsiders that provide alternative visions and critiques.

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