Women International Organizations Research Articles

KAREN GARNER. Shaping a Global Women's Agenda: Women's NGOs and Global Governance, 1925-85.

In her new book, Karen Garner seeks to propel forward feminist action by providing lessons about the achievements women enjoyed and missteps they made during much of the twentieth century as they agitated to increase their involvement and influence within structures of international governance. She focuses on the work of liberal international feminist organizations led by middle- and upper-class Western women, such as the World Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), because these Western-led organizations determined the actions and agenda of the global feminist movement from the 1920s until the 1980s. The years 1925 and 1985 are bookends of the study. Their significance stems from the fact that 1925 saw the founding of the Joint Standing Committee of Women's International Organizations, which heralded a new day in the cooperative efforts of women in global politics, while 1985 marked the end of the United Nations (UN) Decade for Women and the emergence of clear challenges to Western dominance by feminist voices from other parts of the world.