Raffaella Baritono
This research project aims to explore how the concept of women's rights as human rights has gained prominence in global discussions since the 1975 U.N. Mexico City conference. In particular, the project seeks to examine the role of U.S. transnational organizations, such as the Center for Women's Global Leadership and Equality Now, in advocating for issues important to U.S. feminist organizations in international political strategies. The project will analyze the decisions made by American administrations from Clinton to Obama and the significant role played by feminist organizations and administration figures such as Hillary Clinton, Madeleine Albright, and Melanne Verveer. The Vital Voices program, initiated during the Clinton administration, set the stage for incorporating gender issues into security strategies during the Obama presidency, particularly in efforts to combat gender-based violence as evidenced in the 2010 U.S. Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review and the 2012 First United States Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence Globally. The project aims to address three main areas: firstly, the tension between the administration's rhetoric and the challenges within the U.S. policy framework hindering the ratification of essential conventions on the subject (for example, the non-ratification of CEDAW); secondly, the interaction between the institutional apparatus and transnational organizations; and thirdly, the use of gender issues to validate the U.S.'s international role within the broader context of the reshaping of American liberalism.