ABSTRACT
Under what conditions do governments in the Global South introduce policies that promote gender equity? Although there have been some important advances within recent scholarship on gender and politics, the field offers only a partial view of the multiple forms of politics that shape gender equity. The ‘inclusion-to-influence’ agenda is not sufficient to explore factors such as interests and ideas, critical historical moments, and patronage in affecting the progress of gender equity in countries of the Global South. We argue that a synthesis of recent advances within feminist analysis, comparative politics, and the politics of development can offer a new framework to explore the politics of gender equity in the Global South. In seeking to provide a clearer answer to this question, this volume examines the progress of a particular policy reform—namely, policy to combat domestic violence—in six countries of the Global South.
