Political leadership and gendered multilevel games in foreign policy
Aggestam, Karin LU
and True, Jacqui
(2021)
In International Affairs
97(2).
p.385-404
- Abstract
- Gender intersects as a major fault-line in increasingly polarized, contemporary global politics. Many democratic states in the global North and South have adopted pro-gender norms in their foreign policies, while other states and populist regimes have resisted the promotion of gender equality and women's rights. This article analyses how political leaders harness gender dynamics to further their power, status and authority to act in foreign policy. While scholarship on foreign policy analysis has emphasized the role of individuals, political leaders and their followers, and of two-level games balancing domestic and international pressures, we advance a novel theoretical concept: ‘gendered multilevel games’. This new concept highlights the... (More)
- Gender intersects as a major fault-line in increasingly polarized, contemporary global politics. Many democratic states in the global North and South have adopted pro-gender norms in their foreign policies, while other states and populist regimes have resisted the promotion of gender equality and women's rights. This article analyses how political leaders harness gender dynamics to further their power, status and authority to act in foreign policy. While scholarship on foreign policy analysis has emphasized the role of individuals, political leaders and their followers, and of two-level games balancing domestic and international pressures, we advance a novel theoretical concept: ‘gendered multilevel games’. This new concept highlights the gendered dynamics of the problem of agency and structure in foreign policy, which are generated from the interactions between the domestic, international and transnational levels, and reach within and across states. To illustrate the utility of this concept, we analyse foreign policy leadership and the variation in gendered multilevel games in four vignettes: (1) hyper-masculinity and revisionist leadership; (2) normative leadership and gendered nation-branding; (3) compassionate leadership and gendered transnational symbolism; and (4) contested leadership on pro- and anti-gender norms in foreign policy. Importantly, these empirical illustrations show how adept political leaders navigate pro- and anti-gender norms to achieve core and often divergent foreign policy goals. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/4941c185-c429-4291-b928-5dd17a90d67f
- author
- Aggestam, Karin
LU
and True, Jacqui
- organization
- publishing date
- 2021-03-08
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- International Affairs
- volume
- 97
- issue
- 2
- pages
- 19 pages
- publisher
- Wiley-Blackwell
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85108320128
- ISSN
- 0020-5850
- DOI
- 10.1093/ia/iiaa222
- project
- Rethinking Peace Diplomacy and Foreign Policy
- Gender and Foreign Policy
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 4941c185-c429-4291-b928-5dd17a90d67f
- date added to LUP
- 2021-05-19 17:08:32
- date last changed
- 2025-03-09 13:06:11
@article{4941c185-c429-4291-b928-5dd17a90d67f,
abstract = {{Gender intersects as a major fault-line in increasingly polarized, contemporary global politics. Many democratic states in the global North and South have adopted pro-gender norms in their foreign policies, while other states and populist regimes have resisted the promotion of gender equality and women's rights. This article analyses how political leaders harness gender dynamics to further their power, status and authority to act in foreign policy. While scholarship on foreign policy analysis has emphasized the role of individuals, political leaders and their followers, and of two-level games balancing domestic and international pressures, we advance a novel theoretical concept: ‘gendered multilevel games’. This new concept highlights the gendered dynamics of the problem of agency and structure in foreign policy, which are generated from the interactions between the domestic, international and transnational levels, and reach within and across states. To illustrate the utility of this concept, we analyse foreign policy leadership and the variation in gendered multilevel games in four vignettes: (1) hyper-masculinity and revisionist leadership; (2) normative leadership and gendered nation-branding; (3) compassionate leadership and gendered transnational symbolism; and (4) contested leadership on pro- and anti-gender norms in foreign policy. Importantly, these empirical illustrations show how adept political leaders navigate pro- and anti-gender norms to achieve core and often divergent foreign policy goals.}},
author = {{Aggestam, Karin and True, Jacqui}},
issn = {{0020-5850}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{03}},
number = {{2}},
pages = {{385--404}},
publisher = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
series = {{International Affairs}},
title = {{Political leadership and gendered multilevel games in foreign policy}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiaa222}},
doi = {{10.1093/ia/iiaa222}},
volume = {{97}},
year = {{2021}},
}