Attempting international normative change in gender and the law: a reply to DeLaet, Baldez and Bunting

ABSTRACT

This reply responds to contributions by DeLaet, Baldez and Bunting to the issue’s sub-theme on ‘The Role of International and Domestic Law in Attaining Gender and Sexual Equality’. While each paper allocates different degrees of importance to the role of international actors in international normative change, all agree that domestic attempts are more important to sustainable change than international attempts. This reply attempts to determine the reasons for divergence on the attribution of importance to international actors, while examining means by which these international actors can better service domestic actors rather than merely replicating neo-colonialist policies.

This is a reply to:

Baldez, Lisa (2018) “What’s at Stake in the Treaty Reporting Process? Cuba and the United Nations Treaty on Women’s Rights”. Global Discourse. doi: 10.1080/23269995.2018.1520009.

and

Bunting, Annie (2018) “Gender Politics and Geopolitics of International Criminal Law in Uganda”. Global Discourse. doi: 10.1080/23269995.2018.1520010.

and

DeLaet, Debra L. (2018) “Lost in Legation: the Gap Between Rhetoric and Reality in International Human Rights Law Governing Women’s Rights”. Global Discourse. doi: 10.1080/23269995.2018.1520006.

KEYWORDS:

• Gender
• law
• norm change
• international politics
• human rights

This article responds to:

Gender politics and geopolitics of international criminal law in Uganda

Lost in legation: the gap between rhetoric and reality in international human rights law governing women’s rights

What’s at stake in the treaty reporting process? Cuba and the United Nations’ convention on women’s rights

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.