Publication Type: Proceeding
Abstract: The fiftieth session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women explored the continued efforts by national governments to increase the participation of women in various levels and processes of decision-making and power. True and Mintrom (2001) suggest that a majority of the world’s governments have now instituted mechanisms for mainstreaming gender into national policy. Some argue that in large part, this progress is due to women’s transnational advocacy efforts. However, to what extent have these advocacy efforts been diffused into the ongoing policy contestation around the emerging international regime for the global governance of information and communications technologies (Krasner, 1986, 1991; Cowhey, 1992; Cogburn, 2003; Braman, 2004)? This paper explores the participation of women in transnational policy networks and epistemic communities active in global policy formulation for information and communication technologies taking the first phase of the UN-Sponsored World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and its various preparatory processes as a case study. We examine three key questions: (1) to what degree did women participate in the WSIS processes?; (2) do women differ from men in their participation in transnational advocacy networks and epistemic communities active in WSIS; and finally (3) are the policy preferences of women in WSIS different from men? The paper uses a descriptive analysis of international survey data (N=322) and participant observation. Much to our surprise, we find that on each of these three questions, there are very few differences between the male and female delegates participating in the WSIS processes. The paper concludes with suggestions for a growing research agenda that may enhance the character of multi-stakeholder policy processes.