ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the analyses the recent theoretical work in international relations on the role of transnational advocacy networks in contributing to the inter-subjective understandings. It demonstrates that the civilian protection network frames reproduce the three prominent gender essentialisms characteristic of the older discourse on civilians: women as civilians, women as mothers and women as vulnerable. The chapter explains the emergence of this gendered rhetoric as part of a strategic framing process in which network actors sought to promote an image of their work that both resonated with traditional humanitarian ethics and drew strength from the emerging activity around the issue area of war-affected women. The concept of transnational advocacy networks explicitly goes beyond inter-state interactions to emphasize the transnational public sphere. The humanitarian community is driven by the demands of donor agencies within Western governments who are often beholden to ill-informed constituencies themselves reliant on essentialist discourses to make sense of their world.
