Gender Equality Norms in Regional Governance

Petra Debusscher, University of Antwerp, BelgiumMerran Hulse, Radboud University Nijmegen, The NetherlandsAndrea Ribeiro Hoffmann, Free University Berlin, GermanyJoni van de Sand, WO=MEN Dutch Gender Platform, The Netherlands Alison Woodward, Free University of Brussels, Belgium

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

• 1. Introducing the Book; Anna van der Vleuten, Anouka van Eerdewijk and Conny Roggeband PART I 2. Regional Governance, Gender and Transnationalism: A First Exploration; Anna van der Vleuten and Anouka van Eerdewijk 3. Gender Equality Norm Diffusion and Actor Constellations: A First Exploration; Anouka van Eerdewijk and Conny Roggeband PART II 4. EU and the Export of Gender Equality Norms: Myth and Facts; Alison E. Woodward and Anna van der Vleuten 5. Gender Mainstreaming in EU Development Policy towards Southern Africa and South America; Petra Debusscher 6. Gender Mainstreaming in Mercosur and in Mercosur-EU Trade Relations; Andrea Ribeiro Hoffmann 7. Latin American Advocacy on Violence Against Women and the OAS Convention; Conny Roggeband 8. Gender Mainstreaming in SADC and in SADC-EU Trade Relations; Anna van der Vleuten and Merran Hulse 9. Regional Advocacy on Violence Against Women and the SADC Gender Protocol; Anouka van Eerdewijk and Joni van de Sand PART III 10. Reconceptualizing Gender Equality Norm Diffusion and Regional Governance: Logics and Geometries; Conny Roggeband, Anouka van Eerdewijk and Anna van der Vleuten