Introduction  xvii
contribute to climate change and by adapting farming
practices to deal with the new realities of the climate. In
India, around 84 percent of women are involved in agricul-
tural activities, and so they are more vulnerable to climate
change (Global Voices 2009). Gender inequality adds to that
vulnerability. In India, the world’s third-largest emitter of
greenhouse gases, agriculture accounts for nearly 30 per-
cent of greenhouse gas emissions (Acharya 2009). Indian
women farmers are taking steps to lower these emissions
by planting crops that require less water and by not using
chemicals, such as pesticides (Global Voices 2009). They
are planting crops suited to their region and constructing
embankments to capture rainfall and prevent soil erosion
(Akbar 2015). “In Tamil Nadu, women farmers have made
food last longer by improving post-harvest traditional sys-
tems. Up to 20 different traditional post-harvest practices
have been developed and refined over generations. They
vary according to the specific crop, but commonly includ-
ing threshing, winnowing, cleaning and drying” (Eugenia
2013). While women remain underrepresented in deci-
sion making to address climate change, the government
of India has committed to steps to encourage and support
women’s participation in climate change decisions (United
Nations Climate Change Newsroom n.d.).
Around the world, women are taking steps to combat
climate change. In Darfur, one project provides low smoke
stoves to cut down on smoke emissions. In Guatemala,
women farmers are planting trees to help lower carbon
levels. In Australia, 1 Million Women is a women’s envi-
ronmental organization that empowers women to take
steps in their daily lives to shrink their carbon footprint
(Figueres 2014). The U.S. women’s organization MADRE
has developed a program for Women Climate Defenders
that works with grassroots partners in communities to en-
able adaptation to climate change and to bring grassroots
women’s voices to national and international climate pol-
icy discussions (MADRE n.d.).
We know from the research that when women are in-
volved in political processes, they make important im-
pacts. For example, research shows that when women are
involved in peace agreements, the agreements are less
likely to fail (Bigio and Vogelstein 2016). Yet, women have
made up only a small proportion of peace negotiators, sig-
natories, and mediators (Strasser 2016). In 2014, Oxfam re-
ported, “Afghan women have been systematically excluded
from the government’s efforts to start peace talks with the
Taliban” (Nordland 2014). In an address to the UN Secu-
rity Council, former UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon
noted, “Look at the pictures of peace negotiations on Syria
or Yemen. There may be one woman at the table or in one
delegation. This is fully representative of the general pic-
ture. And all this is against a backdrop of women and girls
suffering inequalities that are aggravated by conflict, who
are targeted for particularly brutal crimes by violent ex-
tremist groups including Da’esh and Boko Haram” (United
Nations 2016).
In a clear example of the important role women must
play in negotiating peace, women in Colombia demanded
a place at the table to negotiate peace with the FARC (who
also included women negotiators). The two sides created
a gender subcommission specifically to examine how the
proposed peace plan would affect women and to ensure
the plan promoted gender equality. In particular, the pro-
posal paid attention to acknowledging and addressing
violence against women. Government and FARC leaders
signed the peace deal in November 2016 (Krystalli 2016;
Casey 2016). Research also shows that women’s participa-
tion in security forces improves success. Women are more
likely to de-escalate situations without the use of excessive
force and are more likely to build community relationships
that create positive perceptions (Bigio 2016).
So, what if we imagine a world guided by Margot Wall-
ström’s vision of a feminist foreign policy? Wallström’s
first question is one of representation. Are women at the
table? Women’s participation in defining and implement-
ing policy is essential, although we must recognize that
women are not a monolithic group, and diverse women
will have diverse viewpoints. In particular, in imagining a
feminist policies and practices, we must recognize that not
all women are feminists and feminists themselves do not
have a single vision of global relations and human security.
If the women at the table only represent the interests of
white women of the Global North, then many important
issues for women of color, poor women, and women from
the Global South are likely to be overlooked. Furthermore,
if the women at the table are antifeminist, then policies
may actually be detrimental to women.
The second question raised by Wallström is one of rights.
Do women have equal rights? Are women’s human rights
respected and promoted? We know, of course, that women
do not have equal rights, but feminists can demand that
governmental policies and economic support ensure equal
rights within the programs it creates and funds. Feminists
can put pressure on governments to enact laws, programs,
and enforcements that ensure equal rights. We can look
to our own houses to see whether equality is part of the
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