Introduction

How is feminism conducted in everyday foreign policy and what feminist routines do foreign policy actors practice? We know that men have long been doing foreign policy in homosocial environments ranging from golf courses, saunas and billiard rooms to hotel lobbies, smoking corners, banquets and bars (Nair, 2020). Since women (less so non-binary people) entered foreign policy institutions in the 20th century, it becomes important to understand how their contribution to diplomacy has changed the everyday practice of foreign policy (Aggestam and Towns, 2018). Practice is defined as the routine and innovative everyday behaviours that enable both continuity and change.

In recent work on International Practice Theory (IPT), we learn, for example, that because of the changes in women's status in foreign policy institutions, the understanding of a diplomatic spouse has started to transform (Standfield, 2022). For instance, the male-homosocial practice of playing golf has lost momentum in certain parts of the world because women as foreign policy actors are not interested in reproducing the traditional practices of their male counterparts (Nair, 2020). Given these changes, it is worth asking whether feminist practices of foreign policy are emerging and, if so, what they entail?

Drawing on International Relations (IR) feminist scholarship, this chapter shows how feminist practices of foreign policy involve an inclusive dialogue based on partner-oriented listening and respect for difference (Park-Kang, 2011; Robinson, 2011), self-reflective listening and attentiveness to positionality (Ackerly and True, 2008; Harcourt et al, 2015), and collaborative engagement in ‘third spaces’ (Nnaemeka, 2004; Kamaara et al, 2012). I argue that traditional practices of foreign policy can enable and constrain feminist practices of inclusive dialogue aimed at achieving empathetic cooperation in global politics (Sylvester, 1994). I thus look at how traditional foreign policy and new feminist practices coexist in everyday encounters of foreign policy actors and how these practices influence each other.

The chapter aims to contribute to IPT scholarship that has not comprehensively considered the role of gender and feminisms in foreign policy practice (Pouliot, 2008; Bueger and Gadinger, 2015; Bremberg, 2016). This neglect has led IPT to focus more on conflict than cooperation ignoring the role of social structures, such as gender, sex, class, race and others in shaping international interactions (Nair, 2020).