Feminist Foreign Policy: Branded for All, Reserved for Some

Author

Madeline KingFollow

Date of Graduation

Spring 5-19-2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in International Studies (MAIS)

College/School

College of Arts and Sciences

Department/Program

International Studies

First Advisor

Nora Fisher Onar

Second Advisor

Jennifer Murphy

Abstract

Sweden was the first nation to implement an explicitly “Feminist” Foreign Policy (FFP) in 2014. Since then, numerous other nations have followed suit, aiming to develop policies that improve the material realities and equality that women enjoy in their allied nations. It is largely agreed that the Swedish policy is an extension of a larger, historically rooted branding campaign to posit the state as a benevolent actor on the world stage. While there may be significant gains that the state has made in the area of gender equality at home, there are distinct problems with attempting to “copy and paste” their method to a nation with a vastly different historical context than their own. Additionally, as a largely racially homogenous, and wealthy nation, many fundamental ideas of decolonial feminism, and intersectional thought that should underpin the policy are absent. Instead, this nation, and other FFP nations are at risk of reproducing the economic and social structures that they claim to work towards dismantling. I use case studies of two FFP other nations, France and Canada, as well as a comparative analysis of Mexico’s FFP. In these case studies I implement discourse analysis of the following: official government publications, political speeches, and interviews with relevant political actors. I use this discourse to determine three things. I investigate the degree to which neo-colonial and neo-imperial logics are embedded in these supposedly radical policies, the extent to which a branding campaign as a moral superpower state motivates the pursuit of FFP implementation, and the degree to which these policies were successful at achieving the gender equality they set out to.

Recommended Citation

King, Madeline, "Feminist Foreign Policy: Branded for All, Reserved for Some" (2023). Master's Theses. 1535.
https://repository.usfca.edu/thes/1535