ABSTRACT

Over the last two decades there has been considerable enthusiasm for the concept of civil society amongst researchers, practitioners and activists. Yet despite this enthusiasm for the concept, the gendered nature of civil society and the impact of feminist organizing on civil society has received minimal attention.
This edited volume seeks to address this gap, and considers:
* how the political environment and nature of the state shapes the way women organize, the issues they address, and their capacity to affect changes in state policies on gender
* is the women's movement structurally different from other civil society organizations?
* does the gender lens alter our vision of civil society?
The chapters in this volume pursue two or more of these questions and cover a diversity of contexts, including the US, East and Central Europe, China, the Middle East, Africa, South East Asia, Central America and Chile. This book not only draws together the concepts of gender and civil society, but also adopts an international perspective, highlighting the diverse trajectories of women organizing in different country contexts and the historical, cultural and political specificities of civil society.

chapter 1|22 pages

Introduction

chapter 4|23 pages

Women in movement

Transformations in African political landscapes

chapter 6|22 pages

The discourse of Dangdut

Gender and civil society in Indonesia

chapter 7|24 pages

Chilean feminism(s) in the 1990s: paradox of an unfinished transition

Paradoxes of an unfinished transition

chapter 9|26 pages

The dimensions and policy impact of feminist civil society

Democratic policy-making on violence against women in the fifty US States

chapter 10|20 pages

Who is the real civil society?

Women’s groups versus pro-family groups at the International Criminal Court negotiations

chapter 11|11 pages

Conclusion