Activists and leaders from around the world including the director of OSI's Network Women's Program, Anastasia Posadskaya-Vanderbeck have contributed to The Future of Women's Rights: Global Visions and Strategies (ZED Books), a new anthology edited by Joanna Kerr, Ellen Sprenger, and Alison Symington.
At an OSI-sponsored book launch, Sprenger characterized the anthology in terms of two themes. The first, which she called I Have a Nightmare, comprises four trends that threaten women around the world: increased militarization, the rise of conservatism/fundamentalism, corporate-led globalization (particularly media monopolization), and patriarchy. Violence against women lies at the heart of all of these forces, Sprenger said.
The second theme, We Have a Dream, refers to the fact that the women s movement has had to respond to agendas imposed from without, rather than put forward agendas of its own. Sprenger argued that the movement needs to get out of the issue box by becoming more "value-identified." In a time of crisis, people want to rally around bold visions, she said; People want hope. Toward that end, the book advocates increased mass-media savvy and re-politicizing our movements, which Sprenger described as the need to shift the focus from feminism that emphasizes only childcare and glass ceilings, toward remaking society.
Moderator Joanna Kerr posed questions to an informal panel made up of Geetanjali Misra (CREA), Anastasia Posadskaya-Vanderbeck, and Lydia Alpízar Durán (AWID). The global rise of fundamentalisms is tied to a crisis in gender roles, Kerr noted; fundamentalist forces feel that masculinity is being challenged. Yet at the same time, since feminism as a counterforce creates backlash, can feminists take on fundamentalists head-on, or should they use more indirect methods?
That would depend on our understanding of feminism, Misra responded. For example, recently in the Indian state of Gujarat , women who perpetrated violence against Muslims perceived themselves as feminists. We must clearly define the underlying principles of feminism, Misra said.
Alpízar Durán added that Catholic fundamentalism in Latin America reaches people by articulating a message that appeals to spiritual needs something that feminism has been reluctant to do. She cited Catholics for a Free Choice as one example of an organization that has been able to incorporate spiritual values into its message.
Contributors to The Future of Women s Rights surveyed AWID members on what they considered to be the most important strategies to promote equality. The number one response, Kerr reported, was the education of girls. Because this issue is also currently being heavily promoted by the UN as part of its Millennium Development Goals, should women s movements focus on education as a way of getting to the root of gender inequality?
Posadskaya-Vanderbeck pointed out the necessity of asking who does the educating, where, and what gets learned. Unless feminists can supplement the Millennium Goals with their own vision, women s empowerment cannot be brought about. Misra concurred, adding that education alone is not enough to eliminate patriarchal power. For instance, she said, some Indian states' curricula are becoming increasingly nationalist and Hinduist.
What gives you hope about the future? was Kerr s final question to the speakers. Solidarity, Posadskaya-Vanderbeck replied, personal connections with so many great women who get up every morning and ask, Who if not I?
The book launch was hosted by the Association for Women s Rights in Development (AWID), Mama Cash, and OSI's Network Women s Program.