Feminists Confront the Neoliberal Turn

Held in Mexico City (1975), Copenhagen (1980), and Nairobi (1985), the United Nations (UN) World Conferences on Women attracted women from all over the world for two concurrent events. National governments and UN-recognized national liberation movements participated in the first meeting, a formal encounter where delegations voted on UN policy documents. Steeped in protocol, the official meetings stood in sharp contrast to the second event, the Forum, a cacophony of grassroots organizers and non-governmental organizations. The Forums allowed participants to speak beyond their official delegations as well as to make the type of connections that would further internationalize women’s movements. This article examines Canada’s role at the third conference – the World Conference to Review and Appraise the Achievements of the United Nations Decade for Women – which was held in Nairobi, Kenya. Against a backdrop of intensifying neoliberalism, grassroots organizers, national liberation movements such as the African National Congress (ANC) and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), and national governments engaged in contentious debates over the meaning of women’s rights. Focused on the 1980s, the article argues that genuine political alternatives existed in Canada and internationally alongside a turn to conservative thinking

Development economics · Economic growth · Economic history · Economics · Political economy · Political science · Sociology · Gender Politics and Representation · Gender Studies · History