Gender Equality Norms in Regional Governance

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. Börzel, Jean Monnet Chair and Director of the Center for European Integration, Freie Universität 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