How Movements Shape Policy: Lessons from Global Feminist Politics

1. How Movements Shape Policy: Lessons from Global Feminist Politics S. Laurel Weldon 2018

2. Three Theses • Feminist movements drive change in law and policy on women’s rights • Women’s rights are multidimensional • Political dynamics vary across issue areas • Institutions matter: • Religious institutions • Women’s Policy Machineries • Regional and Global Agreements • see Logics of Gender Justice (2018)

3. New Work • How best to build and support organized feminism as a route to change • Transnational Connections • Focus on Opposition and Repression • Informal/cultural/attitudinal change • Movements, Markets and Transnational Feminism Project • Collaborative Work on Norms, BLM

4. The Logics of Gender Justice: A Global Analysis of Women’s Rights S. Laurel Weldon (co-authored book with Mala Htun, Cambridge University Press 2018)

5. Overview • Gender Justice is multidimensional • Political dynamics vary across issues • range of sex equality issues • Framework for why and how dynamics vary across issue • Status, Class, Religion • For each type of issue, the set of political actors and institutions that shape outcomes differ

6. A Global Study: 70 Countries, 1975-2005, 7 Issue-Areas

7. Puzzles of Women’s Rights • Governments progressive in one area, not always progressive in others • Nordic v. Anglo American countries on Daddy leave v. VAW • Richer countries not always more progressive than poorer countries • In 1990s, Brazil and Argentina adopt innovative policies on VAW; Finland, Italy and Spain do not • Variation within region, religion and “family of nations” • Turkey and Morocco v. Saudi Arabia or • Iran and Indonesia • Italy and Ireland on abortion and VAW

8. Why These Differences? What Explains These patterns?

9. No Easy Answers! • Cross-issue differences in a single country, and over time • No single feature of polity • Not modernization • Not democracy • Not % women in government • Not “patriarchy” or male dominance • Not *just* feminist movements

10. Gender Politics is Multidimensional • Dimensions of sex, gender and sexuality • Sex equality is multidimensional • Class • Nation • Religion • Dimensions may not be related to each other in a simple fashion • Dimension is an axis that structures society

11. Typology of Women’s Rights Issues Doctrinal? Class?

12. Explaining Change • Organized feminism– “new” issues • Opposition and support varies • For gender issues inflected with class • The pattern of State-Market relations matters • Left parties, labor mobilization • State-Church (Institutionalized religion) • Nation-making: Communism and Colonialism • Constitutionally established religion • International Norms sandwich/pincer • Strategic considerations; Regional effects

13. Relevant Actors/Institutions for Each Issue Type Doctrinal? Class?

14. Global Comparisons • Our analysis encompasses a range of women’s rights issues • VAW (status) • Equality at Work (status) • Family Law (doctrinal) • Abortion legality (doctrinal) • Family Leave (class) • Childcare (class) • Reproductive Rights Funding (status, class and doctrinal)

15. Global Patterns in Government Action to Redress Violence Against Women 1975-2005 Scored 0-10, with 10 being more expansive policy adoption

16. Details of Indices: VAW 3 points for services to victims (1 for each) 3 points for legal reform (1 for each) 1 point for policies or programs targeted to vulnerable populations of women 1 point for training professionals 1 point for prevention programs 1 point for administrative reforms

21. Global Patterns in Equality in Family Law 1975-2005 Index ranges 1-13 1 point for each area of equality (weighted equally) Higher scores reflect more equality; Lower scores less

22. Family Law Indexhigher score = more sex equalitymax of 13; low of 0 • MINIMUM MARRIAGE AGE • CONSENT TO MARRY • BAN ON MARRYING CERTAIN PEOPLE (E.G. NON-MUSLIMS) • SPOUSAL RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS IN MARRIAGE • MARITAL NAME • MARITAL PROPERTY REGIME • GUARDIANSHIP/PARENTAL POWER • INHERITANCE • RIGHT TO WORK WITHOUT PERMISSION OF MALE RELATIVES • RIGHT TO INITIATE DIVORCE • CUSTODY OF CHILDREN AFTER DIVORCE • DIVISION OF PROPERTY AFTER DIVORCE • ADULTERY

27. Regression Analyses • Apply the same model to 6 policy areas (DVs) • Same model for each area, different results! • Many models, controls for each policy issue • One set of regressions to show difference across issues (shown) • Others to actually try to get at distinctive dynamics of each issue (mostly not shown) • Panel data analysis, OLS (PCSE) shown here (also used random effects (Fixed effects inappropriate)) not shown here) • Lagged variables reduce data to three time periods (85,95,2005) for table shown here

28. Independent variables included: • Feminist movement strength and autonomy, • Effective women’s policy machinery • CEDAW ratification/withdrawal of reservations • Constitutionally established religion • Religious legislation • Religiosity (wvs) • Majority Catholic, Majority Muslim • Parties: religious parties, left parties • Former colony • Communist legacy • Controls: GDP, Democracy level (Polity), women in government

29. Areas of Women’s Rights • Violence Against Women (VAW) • Family Law • Abortion • Reproductive Rights Funding • Economic and Social Rights • Maternity and parental leave • Legal status • Childcare (not shown here) • Measured 0-10 for this analysis • Lower numbers = less equality promoting • Higher numbers=more equality promoting

30. Findings: Feminist Movements • Feminist movements are important in every area (except family leave), but in different ways. • Articulate women’s distinctive concerns • Women’s rights are multi-dimensional • Institutions Matter • Where reform of well-established legal frames is necessary, and where there is opposition to overcome (e.g. religious opposition), even strong movements may take longer to have an impact (lagged variable) • International Institutions (Norms) and Activism • When feminist movements don’t matter… • Feminist movements have had limited impact on some kinds of maternity and parental leave- some “women’s rights” policies are not necessarily or primarily feminist!

31. Puzzles of Women’s Rights • Government progressiveness varies across areas (Nordic v. Anglo American countries) • Autonomy of women’s movements (Can v. Sweden) • Regional agreements in Latin America (Lat Am v. Europe) • Left parties for Family Leave differences • Richer countries not always more progressive than poorer countries • Regional agreements in Latin America (for Lat Am v. Europe)- transnational connections (cf. Ayoub) • region, religion and family of nations” • Turkey and Morocco v. Saudi Arabia or Iran • Italy and Ireland on abortion and VAW • Role of institutional dimensions of religion

32. Conclusions and Implications • Multidimensional approach to women’s rights is fits with emerging understanding of gender and intersectionality • Disaggregation by relation to key institutions and identities to illustrate different political processes • Class and religion define distinct dimensions of gender

33. New Work: Movements, Markets and Transnational Networks Movements, Markets, and Transnational Networks Laurel Weldon, with Summer Forester, Kaitlin Kelly-Thompson, Amber Lusvardi Gates Foundation; American Jewish World Service; Global Fund for Women; Mama Cash

34. Purdue Policy Research Institute Movements, Markets, and Transnational Networks : Funded by Gates Foundation and American Jewish World Service; • The project explores the role of feminist movements in sparking change in new policy areas such as market access, financial inclusion and land rights – in particular, this will allow for a deeper investigation of: • how funding by human rights groups affects women’s movement development • how women’s movement activity is related to democracy • how women’s movements affect policy and law • Database of women’s movements in 130 countries; covering years 1975 – 2015 • Analyzing transnational feminist movements

36. “Sliver of a Full Moon:” Policies to Redress Violence Against First Nations Women in USA and Canada S. L. Weldon weldons@purdue.edu Work in progress- comments and questions appreciated at email above!

37. Questions?