Authored by Viviene Taylor, with Gita Sen coordinating the political economy research, this 2000 global report draws together findings from DAWN research conducted across Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Pacific. This Spanish edition was translated by Marcela Hernández and coordinated by Paz Alonso (REPEM). The publication examines the relationship between globalisation, governance, and macroeconomic restructuring, focusing on how changes in the global political economy reshape citizenship, state institutions, and women’s participation in public life. A central theme is the concept of the “marketisation of governance”, used to examine the increasing alignment of state functions with market priorities and international economic agendas.

The volume explores the implications of structural adjustment, debt management, and trade liberalisation for democratic governance and social policy. It discusses the limitations of institutional mechanisms such as gender mainstreaming and electoral quotas in contexts of fiscal austerity and administrative restructuring, while also examining debates around state accountability, the “masculinity of the state”, food security, and human rights. Drawing on comparative regional research, the report brings together feminist analyses of political restructuring and governance from five regions of the Global South.