Theoretical and historical perspectives

This section explores the conceptual foundations, historical trajectories, and theoretical and methodological debates surrounding gender mainstreaming. It aims at setting the scene and providing essential landmarks in the content, nature and definition of gender mainstreaming. Together, the four chapters and three spotlights show how gender mainstreaming has become a central – though contested – approach to addressing gender inequalities in global, national, and subnational governance. The section begins by interrogating the dynamic relationship between gender mainstreaming and feminist theory, examining how practice has responded to theoretical innovation and how theory has been reshaped through mainstreaming’s institutionalisation. Contributors trace the roots of gender mainstreaming to earlier feminist practices within state organisations, highlighting how struggles to overcome resistance have shaped the concept’s definition and longevity. Reflexive analyses examine how gender mainstreaming has enriched feminist research while also exposing its limitations and the compromises that have accompanied its institutional uptake. The section also interrogates the relationship between gender mainstreaming and the state, exploring whether the former can provoke meaningful institutional change or whether it remains a largely symbolic tool, constrained by limited resources and competing priorities. The spotlights complement these chapters by revisiting the historical significance of the Beijing Platform for Action, analysing the rapid global diffusion of gender mainstreaming across sectors and levels of governance, and reflecting on the risks of gender mainstreaming’s transformation into a mere buzzword. Together, these contributions offer a nuanced understanding of gender mainstreaming as both a powerful driver of feminist agendas and a concept whose promises and pitfalls must be critically assessed, especially in relation to contemporary challenges and attacks.