Social Movements Through the Gender Lens

Although it is widely acknowledged that many aspects of social life are gendered, only relatively recently have feminist researchers begun to address the ‘gender blindness’ of the social movement theory. Integrating findings from multiple studies, the article considers how gender affects social movement dynamics. It is argued that gender exerts pervasive influence on every aspect of social movement activities. The patterns of mobilisation, political and cultural opportunities, framing process and intra-movement dynamics are all gendered. It is argued that although ample evidence demonstrates that protest is gendered, we do not yet know whether there is any general pattern of influence of gender on social movements, a pattern that enables a systematic explanation of the effects of gender on social movement dynamics. In conclusion, I will examine the reasons for this and suggest avenues for research.