Published in 2000, this report draws on discussions from regional workshops held in South Asia, South East Asia, and the Pacific. Prepared as a contribution to the five-year review of the World Summit for Social Development (Copenhagen+5), the publication forms part of DAWN’s programme on Political Restructuring and Social Transformation (PR&ST). The text examines how processes of economic globalisation, political restructuring, and changing forms of governance shape women’s lives and citizenship in the Global South.

The report challenges the notion that the state is merely retreating under globalisation, examining instead how public institutions are actively restructured through deregulation and privatisation to serve market interests. It also examines debates on pluralist democracy, the institutionalisation of gender politics through national machineries and electoral quotas, and the effects of militarisation, cultural politics, and religious fundamentalisms on women’s participation and rights. The publication further explores questions of state accountability, the NGO-isation of feminist movements, and the integration of gender perspectives into macroeconomic policymaking.