The Promise and Perils of Transnationalization NGO Activism and the Socialisation of Women's Human Rights in Egypt and Iran

• Main Author: Stachursky, Benjamin
• Format: eBook
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Routledge 2013; Taylor and Francis; Taylor & Francis Group
• Edition: 1
• Series: Routledge Advances in International Relations and Global Politics
• Subjects: Activism; Arab Spring; Civil Society; Comparative Politics; Constructivism; Egypt; Gender; Gender Politics; Global Governance; Green Movement; Human Rights; International Law; International Law - Law; International Relations; International Relations Theory; Iran; MENA Region; Middle East Politics; Middle East Studies; Non-governmental organizations; Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO); Political Sociology; Transnationalism; Women; Women Studies; Women's rights; Women's Human Rights Discourse; CEDAW Committee; Woman's Right NGOs; Spiral Model; MENA Region; Human Rights Watch 2004a; Egypt; CEDAW; Women's Human Rights Norms; Gender; Constructivism; Law School Human Rights; Law School Human Rights Program; International Relations; Civil Society; Human Rights Norms; Iran; Green Movement; Domestic Norm Socialization; Reformist Era; ADVOCACY NGOS; Women's Human Rights Activism; Activism; Women's Rights Activists; Modern NGOs; Women Studies; Transnational Advocacy Networks; Arab Spring; Domestic Civil Society Actors; Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO); NGO Community; Transnationalism; Human Rights; Harvard Law School Human Rights; Woman's NGOs; Women's Human Rights
• ISBN: 9781138926417; 9780415662024; 0415662028; 1138926418
• DOI: 10.4324/9780203072790

To date, most constructivist international relations studies have characterized the influence of transnationalism on domestic forms of activism as uniformly positive. In particular, transnational interactions are viewed as positive factors for the development and daily impact of gender activism. Benjamin Stachursky's book questions the unvarying positive view of transnationalism on domestic forms of activism, arguing for a more nuanced analysis that permits an understanding of the enabling and restricting effects of transnationalism. Stachursky also challenges the dominant view of civil society as normatively homogenous by illustrating the complex relationships and conflicts that exist between NGOs and other civil society representatives. He grounds his theoretical arguments with a comparative case study on women's rights activism in Egypt and Iran, which uses semi-structured interviews with women's rights activists in the two countries and analysis of documentation by local political and societal actors. Looking at the period from the mid-1980s up to present developments such as the Arab Spring, Stachursky analyzes the emergence and development of NGO activism in Egypt and Iran, the social, political, and legal context of NGO activism, and key domestic debates on the impact and legitimacy of the actors operating in women's rights activism. By closely examining the ambivalent relationship between transnationalism and human rights organizations, Stachursky proves that transnationalization has both enabling and constraining effects on the domestic legitimacy of women's rights activists and on their ability to create meaningful social and political change.