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Global Gender Policy Development in the UN: A Sociological Exploration of the Politics, Processes, and Language

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2013, Doctor of Philosophy, University of Akron, Sociology.
The United Nations (UN) provided a stage for the evolution of a global women's movement and global gender equality policy in the 20th century. My dissertation adds a unique perspective to the sociological literature on the global gender equality regime in that it focuses on the social construction of gender equality policy in the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) of the UN. The guiding research question for my project is "How is gender equality policy socially constructed in UN's CSW?" My goal is to unpack some of the processes and politics of knowledge and norm-production in the CSW in order to explore ways in which women and men around the world may be better able to shape and influence global gender equality policy and utilize it in their national contexts. Data collection involved 700 hours of ethnographic participant observation in and around the offices of the UN headquarters in New York City/NY. Much of these data were collected during a two month internship in Fall 2010 in the Division for the Advancement of Women (now UN Women). After the internship I accessed the field site through an annual UN ground-pass in my capacity as UN delegate and member of the International Committee of Sociologists for Women in Society (SWS). In this capacity I also observed and documented the CSW 53 meeting in 2009, the CSW 55 meeting in 2011, and the CSW 56 meeting in 2012. In addition I recorded, transcribed and analyzed 20 semi-structured in-depth interviews with UN staff members involved in the organizational logistics of the CSW, diplomats, country delegates, and global gender activists working in and around the CSW. My dissertation is structured in three core chapters that have been prepared as stand-alone publications. The first, "Invisible Lives, Silenced Violence: Transphobic Gender Violence in Global Perspective;" deals with the invisibility of queer bodies and the silencing of gender identity issues in the CSW. The chapter dissects the construction of macro social policy and links it to public health outcomes in UN member states, exemplified through evidence of transphobic hate crime in the US. In the chapter "The Insider Outside: Accessibility and Access to the United Nations through the Lens of Feminist Standpoint Theory," I address insider/outsider issues in ethnography and access of civil society to the UN. Guided by feminist standpoint theory I explore fluid, shifting insiderness and outsiderness among women activists as well as myself as Non-American, former UN intern, white, educated scholar-activist. The third chapter "`The Perfect Blend'-Sociologists for Women in Society's Global Public Sociology"; focuses on the relationship of scholarship and activism within SWS, and the benefits and challenges of SWS' engagement with UN politics and policy development since the mid-1990s. My hope is that my research can inform policymakers, researchers, students, peers, social movement organizations, and others that want to become agents of global social change with the goal to advance democracy and equal life chances regardless of sex, gender, gender identity, sexuality, race, class, religion, citizenship, ability or age.
Kathryn Feltey, Dr. (Advisor)
Matthew Lee, Dr. (Committee Member)
Sandra Spikard Prettyman, Dr. (Committee Member)
Clare Stacey, Dr. (Committee Member)
Sarah Swider, Dr. (Committee Member)
Robert Peralta, Dr. (Committee Member)
179 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Jauk, D. F. (2013). Global Gender Policy Development in the UN: A Sociological Exploration of the Politics, Processes, and Language [Doctoral dissertation, University of Akron]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1373552040

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Jauk, Daniela. Global Gender Policy Development in the UN: A Sociological Exploration of the Politics, Processes, and Language . 2013. University of Akron, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1373552040.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Jauk, Daniela. "Global Gender Policy Development in the UN: A Sociological Exploration of the Politics, Processes, and Language ." Doctoral dissertation, University of Akron, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1373552040

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)