Global pathways or local spins? National Action Plans in South America

Paula Drumond and Tamya Rebelo

Article published in August 2020 (in English).

Abstract: With the upsurge in the adoption of National Action Plans (NAPs) to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 (2000), scholars have made attempts to better understand the global, regional, and national formulations of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda. Commitments to the agenda have emerged in South America in recent years, and this article critically examines what governments understand and indicate as appropriate ideas and practices for engaging with the global WPS architecture. By considering the specific security challenges experienced in the region, the article interrogates the extent to which South American countries have been emulating or innovating in terms of the content of NAPs. We argue that, despite some innovative elements that are bubbling up from these documents, the appropriation of the agenda by governments has mostly emulated traditional “peace” and “security” frames that are notably at odds with the insecurities and realities facing South American women. As feminist research gains new impetus with the twentieth anniversary celebrations of UNSCR 1325, our findings provide new insights into the workings of this agenda in a region that has been under-explored within WPS scholarship.

Keywords: UNSCR 1325, South America, National Action Plans, policy diffusion, WPS

Full publication: Paula Drumond (she/her/hers) & Tamya Rebelo (she/her/hers) (2020) Global pathways or local spins? National Action Plans in South America, International Feminist Journal of Politics, 22:4, 462-484, DOI: 10.1080/14616742.2020.1783339