A Tale of Two Femocrats: Brokering Gender Norms in Addis Ababa

Abstract

This article examines the evolution of gender governance in national and regional contexts in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia and home of the African Union secretariat, by juxtaposing the life histories of two women. One was an Officer at the Women’s Unit of the Organization of African Unity (later the African Union) and the other the first State Minister of Women’s Affairs in the Ethiopian government. Introducing political biographies as a vehicle through which individual actors in normative processes can be analysed, the article conceptualises their roles and political work through the notion of norm brokers. Informed by discussions in constructivist international relations, anthropology and global histories, I demonstrate that femocrats as norm brokers use their position in a network of state actors, donors and civil society to facilitate the success of policy networks and norm entrepreneurs. The article argues that, unlike norm entrepreneurs, norm brokers enable normative negotiation and change ‘behind the scenes’.