Globalization of the Local/Localization of the Global Mapping Transnational Women's Movements AMRITA BASU

Globalization of the Local/Localization of the Global Mapping Transnational Women's Movements AMRITA BASU It may be time to replace the bumper sticker that exhorts, "Think Glob- ally, Act Locally," with one that reads, "Think Locally, Act Globally". Or perhaps it's time simply to retire the bumper sticker, for with the growth of transnational social movements, we need to rethink entirely relations between the local and the global. I am interested in exploring the implications for women's movements in the South of the growth of the transnational networks, organizations, and ideas. In the essay that follows Iwant to ask how North-South tensions around the meaning of feminism and the nature of women's movements have changed. What new opportunities have emerged and what new tensions have surfaced? What is the relationship between the transnationalism ofthe 'gos and the feminism ofthe '6os and '70s, when Robin Morgan aptly and controversially claimed, "Sisterhood Is Global?" My point of departure is an anthologyofwritings I edited in preparation for the I995 Beijing women's conference entitled The Challenge of Local Femi- nisms: Women's Movements in Global Perspective. I found myself attempting to navigate twin dangers: resisting, on the one hand, the tendencynarrowly to equate women's movements with autonomous urban, middle-class feminist groups, and, on the other hand, of defining women's movements so broadly that the term includes virtually all forms of women's activism. I highlighted the local origins and character ofwomen's movements cross- nationally and argued that women's movements must be situated within the particular political economies, state policies, and cultural politics of the regions in which they are active. The question I now propose to ask is whether we need to rethink once again the relationship between local and global feminisms. Is it possible [Meridians:feniinism, race, transnationalism 2ooo, vol. i, no. I, pp. 68-84] ©2o0o by Wesleyan University Press. Al rights reserved. 68 that the 1995 Beijing conference, which my book was designed to com- memorate, in fact marked the coming of age of transnational feminism and the eclipse of locally based women's movements? This question is prompted by the appearance of more transnational women's movement activity than we ever have seen. Before proceeding, a word about my terms: I am aware that local can connote the supposed particularism, provincialism and primordialism, of the Third World while global may connote the breadth and universality that is often associated with Western feminism. By contrast, I use the term local to refer to indigenous and regional, and global to refer to the transnational. I employ these terms because they correspond to the levels at which a great deal of women's activism is organized, namely at the grass roots and transnational levels. As I will discuss, it is also important to inject into that dynamic attention to the national level. There is considerable controversy about the significance of transnational movements, NO0s, networks, and advocacy groups. While some scholars speak of the emergence of a global civil society, others are more skeptical.' How to evaluate the transnationalization of women's movements is no less complicated. From one perspective it represents a signal achievement-particularly for women in the South. For example, Valen- tine Moghadam (I996) argues that transnational networks are organiz- ing women around the most pressing questions of the day: reproductive rights, the growth of religious fundamentalism, and the adverse effects of structural adjustment policies. Moghadam also comments favorably on the recent emergence of networks, which she believes have a broader and more far reaching impact than local movements.2 From another perspective, as women's movements have become more transnational, their commitment to grass roots mobilization and cultural change has dimin- ished. Sonia Alvarez (I997, I998, 2000) argues that women's movements are becoming increasingly bureaucratized as they have come to work more closely with NGOS, political parties, state institutions, and multilateral agencies. 3 What explains the differences in these two perspectives7 Which is correct? I emphasize the indeterminate character of transnational activism in the late I99OS and early 2000s. It is inaccurate to depict local women's movements as simply being subsumed by global ones or as engaging in sustained, overt resistance to global influences. Rather what prevails is a more complex and varied situation in which local and transnational movements often exist independently of one another and experience simi- GLOBALIZATION OF THE LOCAL/LOCALIZATION OF THE GLOBAL 69 lar challenges and dilemmas. Furthermore, while transnational ideas, re- sources, and organizations have been extremely successful around certain issues in some regions, their success with these issues is more circum- scribed elsewhere. After discussing these questions within the global con- text, I will turn to the Indian women's movement to illuminate my broader argument. WOMEN'S MOVEMENTS IN GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE The international women's conferences that occurred in Mexico City (I975), Copenhagen (I980), Nairobi (I985) and Beijing (I995) provide a fruitful opportunity to explore changing relationships among womren's organizations transnationally.The two-tiersystem of conferences, namely the United Nations-convened official conferences of heads of states, and the non-governmental conferences convened by women's groups and movements, provide insights into the workings of the international state system and of what some describe as a burgeoning global civil society. International feminism might be periodized as comprising two broad phases. The first phase, between I975 and i985, was marked by bitter con- testation over the meaning of feminism and over the relationship between the local and the global. The second decade-long phase, which began with the Nairobi conference in 1985 and culminated in the Beijing conference in 1995, was marked bya growth of networks linking women's activism at the local and global levels. Fierce struggles over the meaning and significance of feminism took place at international women's conferences of activists and policy makers from I975 to I985. Some of these debates identified the South with the local and the North with the global A typical scenario would be one in which women from the South would argue that women's major priorities were both local and material, for instance, the needs for potable drinking water, firewood forfuel, and more employment opportunities. Meanwhile, women from the North typically would focus on women's broad transnational identities and interests. It would be inaccurate to imply that tensions along North-South lines had disappeared entirely by the 1995 Beijing women's conference. Even today the organizations that sponsor campaigns to extend women's civil and political rights are Northern-based while Southern-based groups are more apt to address poverty, inequality, and basic needs. Esther Ngan-ling 70 AMRITA BASU Chow (I996) notes, "Even when they agree on the importance of an issue such as human rights, women from various world regions frame it differ- ently. While Western women traditionally have based their human rights struggles on issues of equality, non-discrimination and civil and political rights, African, Asian and Latin American women have focussed their struggles on economic, social and cultural rights." 4 These differences, however, were less striking at the Beijing conference than significant areas of agreement that were established across North- South lines. Charlotte Bunch and Susan Fried (I996) argue that the entire Platform ofAction was an affirmation ofthe human rights of women: "The incorporation of women's human rights language and concepts by gov- ernments and organizations from all parts of the world and in all manner of ways indicates more than a rhetorical gesture. It represents a shift in analysis that moves beyond single-issue politics or identity-based orga- nizing and enhances women's capacity to build global alliances based on collective political goals and a common agenda." 5 One important explanation for the diminution of tension between women's movements in the North and South is the increasingly important influence of women of color in shaping debates about feminism in the United States. Recall that some of the earliest and most important cri- tiques of feminist universalism came from African American and Latina women in the United States. Years later, in preparation for the I995 Beijing women's conference, American women of color formed a coalition with women from the South and drafted language for the platform document about women who face multiple forms of discrimination. 6 At the same time, women from the South increasingly have worked to correct nationalism's exclusions by proposing non-discriminatory policies in newly formed states. Thanks to the influence of its women's movement, Namibia's constitution forbids sex discrimination, authorizes affir- mative action for women, and recognizes only those forms of customary law which do not violate the constitution. The South African constitution similarly provides equal rights forwomen and prohibits discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation. Palestinian women have drafted a bill of rights and sought legislation protecting women from family violence. Furthermore, with the end of the Cold War, the character of international gatherings changed quite significantly. Early meetings, like the Mexico City conference in 1975, were dominated by national political lead- ers who sought to use these forums to pursue their own agendas. Whereas many of the delegates attending the 1975 Mexico City conference were the GLOBALIZATION OF THE LOCAL/LOCALIZATION OF THE GLOBAL 71 wives, daughters, andwidows of male politicians, by the I985 Nairobi conference, the representatives included many women who were powerful in their own right. Even more important was the growth of women's movements globally and their increasingly important roles relative to those of states.

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