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Women's Rights in International Law: Critical Actors, Structuration, and the Institutionalization of Norms

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 June 2019

Neil A. Englehart  and
Melissa K. Miller
Neil A. Englehart
Affiliation:
Bowling Green State University
Melissa K. Miller
Affiliation:
Bowling Green State University
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Abstract

Widespread adoption of the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) represents a puzzle. It cannot be described as serving the interests of any state as understood in conventional theories of international relations because it commits countries to radical social change. Yet all but six UN member states have ratified it. We argue that the case can only be explained by reference to Waltz’ first image, the individual level. We invoke Giddens' notion of structuration to explain how a small group of like-minded women, many of them diplomats, were able to work within existing structures of international diplomacy to create institutions that embedded their ideals in international law. These women were critical actors, positioned simultaneously in activist organizations and government and diplomatic institutions, giving them leverage to institutionalize new norms. The case shows the importance of analysis at the individual level to explain normative change in the international system.

Keywords

CEDAWinternational lawnormscritical actorsstructuration
Type
Research Article
Information
Politics & Gender , Volume 16 , Issue 2 , June 2020 , pp. 363 - 387
Copyright
Copyright © The Women and Politics Research Section of the American Political Science Association 2019

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