The translation of feminist ideas into policy in global governance: rural women’s movement from the Global South and the debate in the Committee on World Food Security

This doctoral thesis research will develop a study on gender politics in international governance. Feminist movements, supported by the development of theories and research accomplished by feminist scholars, have increasingly gained political ground and adherents in diverse thematic areas, and national governments and international organizations have taken notice of some of their claims, struggles and debates. Therefore, ideas that have been disseminated by women’s movements and feminist theories are being incorporated into policies and institutions of global governance, becoming political practices. This research will seek to trace and to correlate the discussions in the Committee on World Food Security regarding women’s empowerment, the right to food and land ownership, to feminist movements on the ground in countries from the Global South. The focus will be on rural feminist movements in Brazil. Peasant women have a trajectory of mobilization and marches in the country. Their movements have been engaged, since the 1980’s, in the struggle for a decent life and women’s rights in rural areas, including the right to land access and to healthy food production. The hypothesis of this proposal is that the activism and mobilization of rural women movements in the Global South, particularly in Brazil, have been translated into the debate in the Committee on World Food Security. Yet, gender studies are still marginalized when compared to other research areas in International Relations, and thus, gender approach is providential in contributing with new reflections on political economy and global governance.