Towards conflict transformation in global feminist cooperation: Reflections and learning

July 2024

Learning paper: Global feminist cooperation has been, and continues to be, influential in driving forward change, shaping law, policy and practice across the world. Despite its influence, however, the processes behind such cooperation have not always been smooth, with different factors causing conflict and tension.

While conflicts can be generative, global feminist spaces have not always responded in ways that allow for this, often ignoring them or addressing only their surface manifestations. Thus, the need for conflict transformation approaches arises, which suggest pathways for feminists to work together in global spaces, across differences, without glossing over them. Conflict transformation approaches interrogate systemic and structural factors, envision new types of relationships, and support repair and healing.

This learning paper explores the concept of ‘global feminist cooperation’ and some of the inherent conflicts within it, before looking at what conflict transformation approaches can offer. It includes learnings from GADN in this area as well as an exercise for further reflection.