Case Study: AIR348 Women’s Rights

Case Study: Women’s Rights

Question: In what way has transnational activism altered the principles and practices of International Relations?

Introduction:

Thesis statement: This essay will argue how transnational feminism has changed the perspective of the inclusion of women in the field of global politics.

In today’s era, women all around the world have been given their fundamental rights after a century of struggle. Previously, women were seen as feminine and  weak individuals because of the rise of patriarchy all around the world. Through social movements they were able to get their fundamental rights like the right to vote or to work in a company as a manager and not as labor earning an everyday wage. This era of feminists is known as ‘transnational feminism’; this term involves unifying all the women globally irrespective of their religion, nationality or class (Medoza, 2002). Previously, women weren’t given the basic rights whereas men did enjoy the basic rights since birth. In order for women to get their basic rights they participated in the world politics so that they are heard. These women want to change the world through cooperation with the entities and the men to include these women in breaking norms and to participate in peace talks. This essay will talk about what principles and practices observed through realism, liberalism, and constructivism. It will also argue the participation of women in politics through different social movements. The essay will significantly highlight how did transnational feminism changed the norms and allowed the women to speak up on the national security of the states. The piece will also provide some criticism regarding transnational feminism that is currently operating.

The evaluation of principles and practices of International relations can be evaluated through liberalism, realism, and constructive. Policies include norms that are described as “a standard of appropriate behavior for actors with a given identity”. Norms can be defined by a constructive school of thought in International Relations; many constructivists point out how norms can bestow a tangible object with determination and hence guide to establish reality (Finnemore & Sikkink, 1998 as cited in Kim & Shin, 2019, p. 135). Theys (2018) in her paper, talks about the school of thought through a lens of International Relations. She defines term norms as a state that rules are essential to constructivism; her paper talks about the nations abiding by precise standards through engagement with other actors. Different societies have distinct identities that are expected to follow certain norms that are connected with that identity. The nations or people have to follow these norms because they seem suitable according to the identification, there are many kinds of standards (Thyes, 2018).

For instance, women around the world were expected to be housewives rather than going out for work; this was considered a norm. Any woman who defied this was ill-shamed and was badly critiqued. Moreover, the realism school of thought also explains standards as a vital factor to understand through the utilization of it that in global politics, why are decisions made. The realism theory is a traditional one that is hasty to discard the norms; the approach doesn’t consider standards to be an illuminating power (Romaniuk & Grice,2018). Practices include national security; through domestic security, the nations protect themselves and guarantees their autonomy through different public policies. The state safeguards its people through national security, the realist school of thought portrays that governments are responsible for both sources of security and security coercions. Realism perceives national security towards armed nations, and they can harm other countries (Jackson-Preece, 2011). However, the liberal school of thought states that governments can interact with other nations through ‘cooperation’ to face international challenges. This school of thought detects the states as significant stakeholders in the global system. Still, it also gives attention to other stakeholders like intergovernmental organizations, transnational corporations, non-governmental organizations, and many more (Degaut, 2015). Liberalism combats the traditional school of thought and portrays national security as something the nations can achieve through various public policies.

Transnational feminism has taken over the world through participation in politics to give women the rights they deserve. Women all around the world have been trying to achieve their rights for many years, and they have been successful in doing so through participation in politics. Transnational activism means social movement in simpler words; transnational feminism involves a political unity between the feminists around the world. This unity does not care about color, caste, creed, religion, or cultural restrictions. Transnational feminism tries to radicalize females’ challenges over the borders of any country; for example, the United Nations work for women’s rights (Mendoza, 2002).

Moreover, female feminists are not anxious about governing world politics; however, they are keen to establish an understanding of what is appropriate. Furthermore, it is essential to highlight the distinct living circumstances of females and the desire to face social inequality on the bases of gender and other mechanisms (Zwingel. 2011). Mendoza (2002) states that the second wave of feminism introduced the world with the word ‘global sisterhood’ which is considered a unifying element is international feminisms. The females at this time thought to be united and represent themselves as one regardless of their religion, culture, nationality, or color. There was the term ‘housewifization of work’ introduced by the German social feminist, and this concept explained how many women are exploited through housework under the dominance of patriarchy, which was recognized by the women in Third and First worlds. The post-colonial feminists have worked for this exploitation and have been successful in rejecting the house roles. Transnational feminism is a new term used by feminists from this century; this term transforms the notion of the nation-state through keeping the significance of the countries and nationality and, on the other hand, highlighting the activism crossing borders (Zwingel, 2011). There have been many transnational movements; one such is the World Anti-Slavery Convention in 1840 because this reached beyond the borders. The Anti Slavery Convention happened in the United States, after the success of the Convention, London hosted the same Convention where the organizers got an overwhelming reponse. The dynamic role of the female in politics in this era after they have struggled so much not only marked their stance but also majorly influenced the different political strategies. For instance, females would collect petitions to impact the politicians despite not being allowed to vote or appointed in the government office (Klotz, 2002).

There have been many circumstances where norms and national security of the nations have been changed through Transnational feminism. Feminist activism from the start has worked for women’s rights and to provide them with equal opportunities. Previously, it is a common fact that in the beginning of the twentieth century, women weren’t even allowed to vote, but through social movements by these women, females all around the world were able to do so. Transnational feminism is utilizing civil approaches to equalize gender norms around the globe. International entities have helped these transnational feminists to get what they want; the United Nations support the feminists to create a separate wing for themselves in 2010 to help them achieve their fundamental rights. Accomplishments of political transnational feminism movements were the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in 1979 and the United Nations Security Council’s ten purposes on female, security and peace that provide gender viewpoint to international security. Another major convention was Beijing Platform for Action in 1995 for women to allow them to contribute entirely economically, supporting the women making decisions about reproductivity and sexuality, curbing gender stereotypes on television, and, most importantly, the acknowledgment of women in politics (Goetz, 2020). United Nations is an international institution that engages different member countries on one platform, this entity has given a platform to women to achieve their political rights through the breaking of stereotypical norms. The norms of different countries still don’t allow the women to work or get their political power but through huge entities, these women will get their desired rights. During the last century, transnational feminists have been working hard to talk about challenges like domestic violence and the contribution of females in the peace process. However, females have faced difficulties in giving their opinions about national securities. Through these transnational movements women contributed and given the right to voice their opinions. Through these movements, the social norms were changed and the world also adapted the concept of gender equality that was an acheivement that the women struggled for a century to get it.

Moreover, the first Convention that allowed the women to voice their opinion about security was at The Hague in 1915. The women in this Convention suggested putting an end to the First Great War. The UN wing of Women has allowed them to provide justice to the victims and have control over the weapon industry to eradicate the economic benefits encouraging war (Tickner & True, 2018).

Transnational feminism has allowed women around the world to participate in world politics. Moreover, women have achieved many necessary rights through their on-going stuggle and contribution in the world politics. However, there have been some criticisms of the transnational feminism movements. Conway (2017) critiques the new era of transnational feminists and claims that the Women March conducted by women all around the world on Women’s day has been a way to eradicate all the barriers that the females receive. However, this march only has made two groups of women one is of those who belong to the poor, lower and working-class, and the other is of those who belong to the highly educated and upper-middle class. There is a politicization of the transnational feminism in today’s era. The new era of feminism is called transnational feminism that unifies women all around the world regardless of their nationality, color or cast. However, now transnational feminism is confined only to media and the internet, but those women who are not utilizing these two sources are ignored. These women are the ones who struggle the most, but no one is there to help them; transnational feminism includes only English-speaking ladies in conferences and conventions that can easily communicate with others (Dubois, Tohidi, Peterson, Blackwell & Rupp, 2005).

Conclusion:

In conclusion, women all around the world are still struggling to get their fundamental rights, especially those in developing countries. Feminists have been working for all the women to stop oppression, a new form of feminism has arrived in this era that is transnational feminism. This type of feminism permits the women to unite with other women regardless of their religion, culture or colour. The entry of women in the world politics was through the social movements that gave the women their basic rights. They struggled to participate in the world politics so that people will listen to them, and nations will make policies that will include them. The 1915 conference at the Hague was the start of the political contribution of women, where they put forward the thought to end the First World War. Today the women can speak their minds and raise their voices against oppression. However, today transnational feminism has become extreme, and only those women are included who have access to media and the internet. The ones who don’t have access to the internet are ignored and avoided.

References:

DuBois, E., Tohidi, N., Peterson, S., Blackwell, M., & Rupp, L. (2005). Transnational Feminism: A Range of Disciplinary Perspectives, 1-13

Kim, Y. S., & Shin, J. (2019). Do Norms Theories Matter?: Viability of Constructivist Approach for the Studies of Foreign Aid. The Korean Journal of International Studies, 17(2), 133-157

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