Gender and Social Movements OVERVIEW REPORT JESSICA HORN 2013 Gender and Social Movements OVERVIEW REPORT The power of the march, the power of the drums. Photographer: Verónica Capriglioni JESSICA HORN 2013 GENDER AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS BRIDGE supports the gender advocacy and mainstreaming efforts of policymakers and practitioners by bridging the gaps between theory, policy and practice with accessible and diverse gender information. It is a specialised gender and development research and information service, one of a family of knowledge services based at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) in the United Kingdom. Other recent publications in the Cutting Edge series: • Gender and Climate Change, 2011 • Gender and Governance, 2009 • Gender and Care, 2009 • Gender and Indicators, 2007 • Gender and Sexuality, 2007 • Gender and Trade, 2006 • Gender and Migration, 2005 • Gender and ICTs, 2004 • Gender and Citizenship, 2004 All BRIDGE publications can be downloaded free from the BRIDGE website. A limited number of paper copies are available on request to organisations based in the South (contact BRIDGE for more details). This publication is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. This means that you are free to share and copy the content provided BRIDGE and originating authors are acknowledged. © Institute of Development Studies 2013. IDS is a charity registered in England and Wales no. 306371 ISBN 978-1-78118-124-9 This Overview Report has been produced with the financial support of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and the UK Department for International Development’s (DFID) Mobilising Knowledge for Development Programme. Thanks also to the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and Irish Aid for their ongoing support of the BRIDGE programme. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the official government policies of our funders. Front cover images clockwise from top right - Journalists, lawyers and women’s rights activists discuss Iran’s polygamy laws. By Raha Asgarizadeh - Young woman at the opening march of the World Social Forum, Tunis, 2013. By Jessica Horn - During the World Social Forum in Dakar, 2011, families demand equality. By Marie Devers - A new generation of young female activists in Bhopal accompanied by prominent women activists. By Reena Shadaan Back cover images left to right -The Madres de Plaza de Mayo, Buenos Aires, Argentina. By Natashe Dekker - A young woman marching during the World Social Forum in Dakar, 2011. By Marie Devers Copy editing by The Write Effect, design by Nim Design Contents FOREWORD BY SRILATHA BATLIWALA i ABOUT THE REPORT v ACRONYMS ix EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 1 INTRODUCTION 8 1.1. Why ‘gender and social movements’? 9 1.2. Why are social movements relevant? 10 1.3. Why are women’s rights and gender justice critical 12 concerns for progressive social movements? 1.4. What questions does this report explore? 13 1.5. What is meant by ‘gender’ in this report? 14 1.6. Who is the overview report for? 15 1.7. Scope, structure and additional resources 15 ENGENDERING SOCIAL MOVEMENTS: 2 EVOLUTION, DEBATES, DEFINITIONS AND RESOURCES 18 2.1. How and why do social movements emerge and grow? 19 2.2. What are the defining features of social movements? 22 2.3. Fundamental concepts for understanding social movements 25 2.3.1. Common cause or common political agenda 25 2.3.2. Issues of representation: who can lead, who can speak for whom? 26 2.3.3. Social movements, inclusion and intersectionality 28 2.3.4. The ‘deep structures’ of movements 29 2.4. Relationships between social movements and organisations 30 2.4.1. The interconnectedness of movements and organisations 30 2.4.2. Tensions in the movement-organisation relationship 32 2.5. Social movements and money 33 GENDER AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS LOCATING WOMen’S RIGHTS AND GENDER JUSTICE IN 3 SOCIAL MOVEMENT PRACTICE 35 3.1. What are the defining features of women’s and feminist movements? 36 3.2. How have feminist and women’s movements evolved? 37 3.3. Intersectionality and inclusion in women’s movements 38 3.3.1. Sexual orientation, gender identity and evolving understandings 38 of gendered power 3.3.2. Men, masculinities and challenging patriarchal power 39 3.4. The impact of women’s, feminist and gender justice movements 39 3.5. How are women’s rights and gender justice included 41 in the broader social movement spectrum? 3.5.1. Women-led movements for broad social change agendas 41 3.5.2. Men’s movements for women’s rights and/or gender justice 43 3.5.3. Mixed-gender movements that do not have women’s rights 44 or gender justice as a foundational focus 3.5.4. Mixed-gender movements with women as active leaders and members 46 but without a central focus on gender justice 3.5.5. Mixed-gender movements with gender justice as a foundational axis 47 3.5.6. Alliances between women-led movements and other social 48 justice movements INTEGRATING GENDER JUSTICE IN SOCIAL MOVEMENT PRACTICE: 4 CHALLENGES AND TENSIONS 50 4.1. Barriers around the recognition of gender equality and 51 women’s active participation as key issues within movements 4.1.1. Identifying inequalities ‘among equals’ 52 4.1.2. Instrumentalising women’s participation 53 4.1.3. Divide and rule tactics around gender and sexuality 53 4.2. Gendered attitudes, behaviour and stereotypes ingrained 53 within the ‘deep structure’ of a movement 4.2.1. Stereotypes about and backlash toward feminism 54 4.2.2. Sexual harassment and violence within social movements 54 4.3. Barriers posed by ideas around gender, culture, tradition and the private sphere 55 4.3.1. Resistance to challenging power relations in the private sphere 56 4.3.2. Using notions of culture, tradition and religion to silence gendered dissent 56 4.4. Disparities and competition in movement priorities, allegiances and alliances 57 4.4.1. Hierarchies in movement priorities 57 4.4.2. Negotiating competing alliances 59 4.4.3. Differences within and between women’s movements 59 4.5. Difficulties maintaining change and achievements in the longer term 60 4.5.1. Sustaining an intersectional approach 60 4.5.2. Sustaining gender transformation ‘after the revolution’ 61 4.5.3. Scaling up from initial change to movement wide transformation 63 5 ROUTES TO SHAPING GENDER-JUST MOVEMENTS 64 5.1. What does a gender-just movement look like? 65 5.2. Recognise and transform culture, power dynamics and hierarchies within movements 66 5.2.1. Engage with the deep structure 66 5.2.2. Politicise the personal 67 5.2.3. Acknowledge that change is emotional 68 5.2.4. Rethink masculinities 69 5.2.5. Interrogate the gendered division of labour in movement practices 70 5.3. Support internal activism for change 70 5.3.1. Build collective power among women 70 5.3.2. Build and support feminist leadership 71 5.3.3. Develop women’s platforms and caucuses 71 5.3.4. Work on movement politics, not just representation of women 73 5.3.5. Support and learn from individual change-makers 73 5.3.6. Anticipate and respond to backlash 74 5.3.7. Acknowledge women’s agency and avoid a ‘victim’ approach 75 5.4. Draw the line on impunity for gender-based violence 75 5.5. Develop the politics and make the arguments on gender and movements 76 5.5.1. Make women’s rights and gender justice visible in movement agendas 77 5.5.2. Openly discuss what women’s rights and gender justice means 77 for the movement 5.5.3. Agree movement-wide political positions and/or policies on gender 78 GENDER AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS 5.6. Build inclusive alliances, shared analysis and common cause 79 5.6.1. Create spaces for dialogue to build understanding between 79 movements and activists 5.6.2. Use intersectional analysis to find areas of common struggle 80 5.6.3. Highlight the history of women’s activism in forging alliances 80 5.7. Expand inclusion within women’s movements 82 5.8 Operationalise gender justice within movements and movement-linked organisations 83 5.8.1. Harness and adapt organisational change strategies and techniques 83 5.8.2. Measure and track movements’ records on women’s rights and gender justice 83 5.9. Remain attentive to movement-organisation power relations 84 5.9.1. Better align donor practice with movement methods and needs 84 5.9.2. Consider how organisational resources can contribute to movement-building 85 5.10. Stay with it, and support change over time 86 6 REFLECTIONS AND AREAS FOR FURTHER EXPLORATION 88 6.1. Reflections 89 6.2. Areas for further exploration 90 7 BIBLIOGRAPHY 93 8 GLOSSARY 105 9 LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS 109 FOREWORD BY SRILATHA BATLIWALA Foreword by Srilatha Batliwala ‘If I should cease to work, these worlds would fall in ruin and I should be the creator of disordered life and destroy these people’ (Lord Krishna to Prince Arjuna in The Bhagavad Gita, III.24). Lead adviser for the BRIDGE Cutting Edge programme on Gender and Social Movements On December 16th 2012, in India’s capital Somehow, somewhere, a powerful city of New Delhi, a young girl was gang- shift had occurred – this young girl’s raped and brutally assaulted for resisting rape and murder, and the thousands her attackers. She died a few weeks later of rapes, murders, and more mundane from the severe internal injuries inflicted indignities women and girls suffer in upon her – but not before cities across daily life, was no longer a women’s issue, the nation erupted in a wave of protests or the responsibility of women’s rights that brought men and women of all ages organisations or women’s movements at and classes onto the streets, demanding large.