Resources

This resource book is about people’s participation in decision-making and about people’s right to have a ‘voice’, to be heard and to choose their own representatives.  Democracy is an ongoing process and to create more just and equal societies it is essential that democratic “spaces” are made that enable real influence for those living in poverty.  This book is for local level civil society practitioners who want to make their own voice heard, and who want to involve more people in their efforts to make their opinions and ideas heard at the local level, in elected local government and other state bodies, in civil society organisations, and in public spaces and media.

This book is a collection of analytical narratives of what has happened to feminist voice, a key pathway to women’s empowerment. These narratives depart from the existing debate on women’s political engagement in formal institutions to examine feminist activism for building and sustaining constituencies through raising, negotiating and legitimizing women’s voice under different contexts.

Bringing together the reflections and experiences of feminist researchers and activists in South Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, this unique volume explores how various global trends, such as the development of transnational linkages, the rise of conservative forces, the NGOization of feminist movements, and an increase in the power of donors, have created opportunities and challenges for feminist voice and activism.