"Drawing the line" and other small scale resistances : Exploring agency and ambiguity in transnational feminist and queer NGOs

• This article explores the discourses, actors, and cross-border exchanges thatshape the broader landscape of contemporary transnational feminist andqueer non-governmental organizations (NGOs). While several studies havepointed to the co-opted role of NGOs, fewer have explored the potential forNGOs to influence the conditions under which they operate. That is what thisarticle sets out to do, with the goal of highlighting the potential for feministand queer NGOs to engage in oppositional politics within contexts ofneoliberalism. Based on material collected during ethnographic fieldwork withtransnational feminist and queer NGOs, this article examines how NGOsposition themselves in relation to the political and financial structures thatcondition their work; how and to what effect the emerging professional classof NGO activists navigate the contradictory landscapes within which they arelocated; and the ambiguities of cross-border exchanges among NGOs. Thearticle shows examples of agency and small-scale resistance, but alsoilluminates the palpable risks of existing neoliberal tendencies among fundersand NGOs. I conclude that transnational feminist and queer NGOs have muchto gain from intervening more decisively in such ambiguities as thoseexamined in this article.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Annan samhällsvetenskap -- Genusstudier (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Other Social Sciences -- Gender Studies (hsv//eng)

HUMANIORA  -- Annan humaniora -- Kulturstudier (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Other Humanities -- Cultural Studies (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Feminism

queer

NGOs

transnational

neoliberalism

Feminism; queer; NGOs; transnational; neoliberalism

Publication and Content Type

art (subject category)

ref (subject category)