In Search of Feminist Foreign Policy

Abstract

This article investigates the extent to which the Danish state's identification with gender issues is transferred into Danish development policy. Is Denmark pursuing a gender and development policy that is radically different from most other Western donor states and, if not, why might we see a less progressive policy in Denmark than we might expect from a domestically `feminist' state? In this article, it is suggested that the very nature of development aid and the policies in place to promote it are gendered. Gender and development aid could provide an arena for international constitution of domestically `feminist' policies. However, it is argued that `development' itself poses important challenges for implementing the goals of Denmark's gender and development policies. Conversely, implementing the critical strategy of agenda-setting within gender and development would reconstitute both `development' and the identity of the Danish state as donor.