Democratic Transitions and Women's Rights Organizing: An Event History Analysis of Gender Mainstreaming, 1981-1998

• In Event: 4366 - Section on Global and Transnational Sociology Refereed Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: 9. Global Norm Formation

Abstract

Previous research shows women’s transnational organizing and democracy are critical factors in increasing the likelihood of nations establishing national machineries for gender mainstreaming in a global context. However, within the field of sociology of development, researchers show that developing nations are fundamentally different from high-income nations due to the drastic differences in historical political experience. In fact, at the onset of the mainstreaming movement (throughout the 1980s and 1990s) a wave of regime changes swept across the developing world complicating the impact of socio-political campaigns and democracy on political institutions. Here, I address the relationship between women’s organizing, gender mainstreaming, and democratic transition during the early years of the mainstreaming movement within the developing world. Using event history modeling, I analyze the establishment of national machineries for gender mainstreaming in 95 developing countries from 1981-1998, finding women’s organizing and democracy among developing nations did impact the establishment of national machineries for the advancement of women at the onset of the mainstreaming movement in the developing world. Yet for nations transitioning to democratic governments, the effects varied by pre-transition regime type, illustrating the important role of historical political context in the varying outcomes of global women’s rights campaigns.

Author

• Heidi E. Rademacher, The College at Brockport