Comparative strength of women's movements over time: conceptual, empirical, and theoretical innovations

Abstract

Women's movements in Western democracies have a long history, yet there are few conclusions we can draw with confidence about their trajectories over the decades. In recent years, scholars have begun to use conceptual tools that allow for more valid and reliable comparison across a variety of temporal, sectoral, and cultural contexts. Such efforts are necessary to construct sound theory about women's movements, their characteristics, and their impacts. This article contributes to these ongoing efforts by further developing the concept of movement strength in terms of mobilization and institutionalization as a more promising way to compare variations in women's movement change. The analysis begins with current scholarship on women's movements as well as the concepts developed by the Research Network on Gender Politics and the State (RNGS) project to offer a new and arguably more reliable and valid way of studying changes in movement strength. Using RNGS data on movements in 13 Western democracies, from the 1970s to the early 2000s, the article tracks degrees and patterns of mobilization and institutionalization and illustrates how this approach can add to the project of theorizing about women's movements as drivers and outcomes cross-nationally and over time.