Transnational Women’s Movements as Counter-Hegemonic Globalization

Globalisation has two faces: one of democratisation and one of inequalities. The new economic environment has given rise to a new consciousness, myriad ways of transmitting ideas and mobilising support, aiding creation of transnational social movements. On the other hand, global economic restructuring, in the forms of structural adjustment programs, has created an entire population that is deprived the benefits of globalisation. Counter-hegemonic globalisation, also termed as ‘globalisation from below’, then provides an alternative discourse to reorganise global finance and production. This paper seeks to understand the contribution of transnational women’s movements in challenging globalisation by comparing women’s movements from the Global North and Global South. Academic literature at the intersection of feminist movements and globalisation choose to focus on how globalisation has been utilised by feminist networks to further their cause and how transnational women’s movements positively impact political structures and institutions. But this research concludes that for women in the Third World, the content of social reforms remains class-determined and freedom of mobility and choice is still in keeping with strategies of capitalist forms of economic production. Therefore, transnational feminist movements have failed to break through the bonds of domination and structures that reproduce female subordination.