Ann Towns

Norms and Social Hierarchies: Understanding International Policy Diffusion “From Below”

This article aims to rethink the operation of norms in international policy diffusion. Norms do not simply standardize state behaviors, as is conventionally argued; norms also draw on and set up hierarchical social orders among states. Through a conceptual rethinking we gain a better understanding of where—among which states—new policies may first emerge: social hierarchies create incentives for new policies to develop at the margins of international society so that policies may diffuse “from below.” We also get a better grasp of how policy advocates frame the appropriateness or benefits of a new state practice: they must frame policy demands in terms of the international standing and rank of the targeted state. This articles empirical aspiration is to use these insights to help account for the international policy diffusion of legal sex quotas, a policy to increase the level of female legislators that developed first among “developing” states rather than among the so-called core of international society. By pointing to the link between norms and social hierarchy, the article helps account for policy diffusion “from below.”

The equality conundrum Gender and nation in the ideology of the Sweden Democrats

This article examines the gender ideology of the parliamentary radical right populist party (RRPP) – the Sweden Democrats. More specifically, the article analyses how the party integrates old nationalist ideas about the importance of traditional gender roles and male superiority for the stability and welfare of the nation with new nationalist ideas about Sweden as the most gender-equal nation in the world. Prior studies suggest that RRPPs have integrated gender equality as a policy measure against multiculturalism and immigration. Our analysis shows this to be true also of the Sweden Democrats. However, unlike prior scholarship, we argue that the integration of gender equality is a tenuous and difficult one, as nationalist ideologies generally rest on ideas of sexual difference and male superiority. While the Sweden Democrats claim to support gender equality in discussions of multiculturalism and immigration, the party is a fierce critic of gender equality in all other contexts.

Understanding the Effects of Larger Ratios of Women in National Legislatures

Abstract This article examines how surges of female representation have produced gender patterns in standing committees and affected the financial support for “womens policy” in the Norwegian and Swedish national legislatures. The argument is two-fold. The more women there were in the Riksdag and the Storting, the more likely they were initially to end up on a “female” standing committee. Second, as the ratio of women legislators grew, spending on “families and children” in the national budget plummeted in both countries, only to acquire more prominence as the proportion of women legislators reached more than one fourth. The article begins with an extensive critical analysis of the gender-theoretical assumptions of the women and legislatures literature, suggesting that contemporary feminist scholarship that assumes gender to be malleable and contextual is more fruitful.

The Status of Women as a Standard of ‘Civilization’

This article focuses on the status of women as a standard of civilization by examining its emergence in the 19th-century European ‘society of civilized states.’ More specifically, the article centers on expectations about the proper political role of women and how these operated as a standard to distinguish ‘civilized’ states from other societies. The article shows that the political exclusion of women — not their inclusion — became expected behavior for ‘advanced’ societies at this time. To statesmen and social scientists alike, evidence from ‘savage’ society and an uncivilized European past demonstrated that women could not contribute to human advancement if given a political role. To arrive at this claim, the article examines the understandings that had come into place to make the political exclusion of women possible and reasonable for European and European settler states.

Carrying the load of civilisation : The status of women and challenged hierarchies

This article explores some ways in which the condition of women has been articulated as a standard of civilisation, focusing on articulations by a range of European and non-European political thinkers and political actors in the 19th century and the present, two important periods marked by intense discussions of the status of women and civilisation. In short, the status of women is used by a broad range of actors to draw up civilisational boundaries and to mobilise for action. The standard also functions as an arena of contestation in which alternative visions of a good society are debated. However, whereas the alleged link between sexual equality and “the West” was highly disputed in the 19th century, this claim is much less contested today. The article ends with a discussion of the problematic implications of using the status of women as a standard of civilisation for feminisms around the world.

Taking the pressure: Unpacking the relation between norms, social hierarchies, and social pressures on states

This article advances a hierarchy-centered approach to the study of international social pressure on states. Prior scholarship has centered on the exposure of a gap between word and deed as key for social pressure. We argue that the scholarship on social pressure would benefit from paying more attention to the centrality of social hierarchies in the dynamics and effects of social pressure on states. It is through comparative assessments — the normative ordering of states as superior and inferior and placement in a social hierarchy — that social pressure is exerted and states are prodded into action. States positioned at the top or in the middle of normative hierarchies may be subjected to different social pressure than states positioned at the bottom. Developing this claim, we contend that normative hierarchies come in several forms. Reflecting on the dynamics of these normative hierarchies is important in and of itself, in our view, as it provides a deeper understanding of how norms generate shame, embarrassment, or status anxiety. That said, understanding normative hierarchies also gives us added purchase on explaining how states manage the social pressure of being ranked.

The Inter-American Commission of Women and Women's Suffrage, 1920–1945 *

In studies of the international dimensions of womens suffrage, the role of international organisations has been overlooked. This article examines the suffrage activities of the Pan-American Union (PAU), and in particular those of the Inter-American Commission of Women (IACW), between 1920 and 1945. Attentive to historical context, the examination suggests that international organisations can be both bearers of state interests and platforms for social movement interests. The article also argues that while not independent bureaucracies, the PAU and IACW nevertheless had some importance for suffrage that cannot be attributed either to their state members or to the suffragist movements.

Introduction: The Study of Gender, Diplomacy and Negotiation

The introduction takes off from the inspirational question raised by Cynthia Enloe (1990) over two decades ago: “Where are the women?” In the field of diplomacy, this problematic has received scant attention. The introduction provides for an elaborated discussion of the state-of-the-art in the study of gender, diplomacy and international negotiation. Three core research questions guide the advancement of the conceptual framework and empirical mapping. First, where are the women located and positioned in contemporary diplomacy and international negotiation? Second, to what extent are diplomatic norms and practices of negotiations gendered? Third, to what extent have the practices of diplomacy and negotiation changed with broader and more diverse groups of diplomats.

Conclusion: The Quest for Gender Justice in Diplomacy

In this last chapter, a series of more general propositions about contemporary gender and diplomacy are identified from the contributions to this book. First, it provides a historical narrative on the exclusions and inclusions in diplomacy over time, suggesting the contours of general trends in the quest to end formal barriers and bring about gender parity. Second, it critically analyses the gendered diplomatic infrastructure and how it still tends towards masculinised norms, homo-social environments and gendered division of labour. The chapter concludes with a discussion about the quest for gender justice in diplomacy and a note on some positive indicators that have been triggered by external as well as internal push-factors.

The gender turn in diplomacy: a new research agenda

ABSTRACT This article argues that the (re-)constitution of diplomacy is intimately linked to gender and the practices of exclusion and inclusion of women and men over time. While the big debates in both academia and among practitioners concern the change and continuity of diplomacy in the last hundred years, gender has received scant, if any, attention. The overarching aim of this article is therefore to advance a new research agenda, which can spur future gender studies and contribute to rethinking diplomacy. It presents an original narrative about three distinct bodies of diplomatic scholarly work that focus on (1) diplomatic history; (2) descriptive representation; and (3) gendered institutions. We conclude that first there is a need to move out of Europe and North America to provide greater focus on Africa, Asia and Latin America. Second, there is a need to move beyond the descriptive single case studies towards more systematic comparisons, which can trace change in institutional gender dynamics over time. Ethnographic work can provide novel insights to gendered micro-processes and the daily mundane institutional practices. Third, as part of the gender turn in the field of diplomacy international feminist theory can generate significant theoretical contributions to the transformation of diplomacy.