Gender and Social Movements Overview Report

Abstract

Across the world there is an active, mass-based demand for an end to gendered injustice in all domains of our social, economic, political and cultural lives. Social movements – led by feminist, women’s and gender justice activists and movements – have been pivotal in demanding, making and sustaining these changes. However, while women’s rights and gender justice are ‘on the agenda’ in many arenas, activists still encounter strong resistance to changing gendered politics and practices within movements and allied organisations. When it comes to making an impact on transforming gender power relations, social movements matter.

Social movements are forms of collective action that emerge in response to situations of inequality, oppression and/or unmet social, political, economic or cultural demands. They are comprised of ‘an organised set of constituents pursuing a common political agenda of change through collective action’ (Batliwala 2012: 3). Social movements are not inherently progressive. Religious fundamentalisms, neo-Nazism and ethnic nationalism have all been rooted in and propagated by social movements. Drawing on first-hand examples from different global regions, this report considers enabling factors and barriers encountered when attempting to integrate women’s rights and gender justice into progressive social movements that have a base of common politics that affirms inclusion, rights and the equitable redistribution of power.