Norms

Gender equality is increasingly accepted as a norm within states’ foreign policy and international actions. From the role of international mechanisms such as United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325; to adherence to international legal frameworks such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women or involvement in multilateral agencies such as United Nations Women; to the adoption of trade policies such as the Global Trade and Gender Agreement, gender equality is increasingly taken seriously by states in relation to their external role. Yet, at the same time, anti-gender movements are growing within state discourse, international institutions and through the formation of new state alliances and agreements. Gender equality is therefore a norm in flux, at once accepted and institutionalized, but simultaneously witnessing fundamental challenges. Norms are one of the dominant concepts for constructivist international relations. Within this, research on gender and norms has been particularly prevalent. This chapter argues that, in line with this empirical picture, which shows both pushback and progress in relation to gender equality in foreign policy, it needs to be understood as a norm in flux. Focusing on ‘normative configuration’, the chapter shows that a dereification of the norm of gender equality is necessary in order to illustrate the messiness of it at work. Gender equality in foreign policy is a continually evolving norm, changing across time and space and in relation to the different actors which employ it.