Towards a transformative vision for gender and Canadian international policy: The role and impact of ‘feminist inside activists’
| Published date | 01 December 2022 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/00207020231163490 |
| Author | Rebecca Tiessen,Nnenna Okoli |
| Date | 01 December 2022 |
| Subject Matter | Scholarly Essays |
International Journal
© The Author(s) 2023
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/00207020231163490
journals.sagepub.com/home/ijx
Towards a transformative
vision for gender and Canadian
international policy: The role
and impact of ‘feminist inside
activists’
Rebecca Tiessen
Department of International Development and Global Studies, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Nnenna Okoli
Department of International Development and Global Studies, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Abstract
In this paper, we consider the role of “feminist inside activists”in shaping the Canadian
international policy landscape and provide examples of how government employees
have actively promoted feminist and gender equality priorities. Specifically, this paper
advances our understanding of how policy translates into action, and the transformative
potential of agents of change in gender equality and feminist policy-making within
Canada’s international policy machinery. Building on studies that identify the significant
contributions of mid-level government employees who fight to keep gender equality a
priority in government programming, we explore these contributions in the context of
inside activism, documenting the significance of the work of both senior and mid-level
government officials in advancing feminist policies and priorities. As an agency-focused
analysis, this study complements and builds on critical feminist analyses of structural
and systemic inequality.
Corresponding author:
Rebecca Tiessen, Department of International Development and Global Studies, University of Ottawa,
120 University, Ottawa, ON K1N5N6, Canada.
Email: rtiessen@uottawa.ca
2022, Vol. 77(4) 615–637
Scholarly Essay
Keywords
Gender, feminist, activist, advocacy, international, foreign policy
Within the growing and valuable scholarship outlining the weaknesses, omissions, and
systemic challenges of promoting gender equality and feminist foreign policy,
1
there
remains a small and under-researched area of focus (a silence) on the role of agents of
change who work within larger bureaucratic processes to promote transformative
change for gender equality. In considering the reason for this silence—or gap in our
understanding—we can look to the “neglect of inside activism within institutional
theory”and the way “institutional change has been underestimated”in Political
Science, International Development, and Global Studies.
2
Jane Parpart and Swati
Parashar remind us that, “[w]hile feminist scholarship and activism certainly requires
close attention be paid to gender inequality and patriarchal forces at work around the
world, feminist strategies also have to be situated within local gendered understandings
and practices.”
3
These local spaces include bureaucracies and institutions where de-
cisions about feminist policy and gender equality programming are made and enacted,
and the actors working within these spaces to promote change.
This paper draws our attention to the individuals working within bureaucratic
institutions, and their local gendered understandings and practices. It examines im-
portant scholarship on feminist inside activism that can frame and guide research to fill
the gap in scholarly analysis concerning the potential impact of inside activists—
individuals who are often unseen outside (and within) bureaucracies. We know lit-
tle of their strategies and the ways they employ voice and silence strategically to
promote social justice and equality. While much research is needed to explore the
distinct ways that inside activism advances feminist and gender equality priorities, this
paper provides a new angle for exploring feminist policy-making and enactments and
highlights the possibilities for agentic change through inside activism, offering an
important and underutilized analytical lens for understanding steps toward feminist
transformation. The paper begins with an overview of the gaps in our knowledge and in
feminist scholarship and highlights the need for greater attentio n to feminist inside
activists in order to build more comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the
transformative potential of policy-makers and practitioners within bureaucratic in-
stitutions. The second section offers an overview of the scholarship on inside activism,
1. See, for example, Rebecca Tiessen and Stephen Baranyi, eds., Obligations and Omissions: Canada’s
Ambiguous Actions on Gender Equality (Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press,
2017).
2. Jan Olsson and Erik Hysing, “Inside activism: Political agency and institutional change,”William
R. Thompson, ed., Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics,30 October 2019,Oxford University Press,
https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.747 (accessed 22 February 2023).
3. Jane L. Parpart and Swati Parashar, eds., Rethinking Silence, Voice, and Agency in Contested Gendered
Terrains (London: Routledge, 2019), 4.
616 International Journal 77(4)
To continue reading
Request your trial