ABSTRACT
Chapter 2 tells the story of the spread of women and gender as aid priorities among major Western industrialized countries over the past fifty years analyzing macro-level data to provide evidence of world society influence at the global level. Based on the results of an events history analysis of global level influences on aid institutions and diffusion processes, the chapter examines the spread of common development assistance policy scripts about women and gender among the major Western donor countries. The story of diffusion at the macro level unfolds such that the spread of a common donor model of women and gender policies among the countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Development Assistance Committee closely resembles the diffusion of world polity models and norms seen in other sectors. Results of this analysis at the macro level shape the micro-level qualitative case studies in Part II of the book.
