Women’s mobilisation and gender norm change

Women’s movements have contributed to transformative social change around the world, and their experiences and achievements – as well as obstacles they have faced – are captured by a range of academic literature. As part of a study on the impact of women’s movements on gender norm change (see corresponding ALIGN report: Mobilising for change), this bibliography outlines literature from around the world on women’s mobilisation and feminist movements and identifies key thematic features.  

Whilst by no means exhaustive, this annotated bibliography provides an overview of key areas of focus within existing literature on women’s movements. Spanning disciplines including anthropology, sociology, law, political science and history, it focuses in particular on available literature in English and Spanish (reflecting the language skills of the lead researcher), and on available studies from 1995 to 2021. 
 
The bibliography highlights the diversity of frameworks around which women’s movements have been studied, and explores some of the core findings of the resulting studies in relation to:

• Types of movements challenging gender norms around the world,
• Strategies for change
• Critical actors and stakeholders
• Enabling factors
• Challenges and constraints
• Ecosystems for change