Anandita Ghosh introduces the July 2025 Issue on women’s leadership in politics and governance.
Historically, women have fought for a place and voice in politics. Notwithstanding their efforts and struggles, they continue to be under-represented in parliaments and local bodies across the world. Despite their exclusion and marginalisation in political spaces, women’s leadership has been linked to positive social impacts. This latest issue of Gender & Development centres stories of resistance and assertion, collective efforts and alliances, all towards building a more inclusive and equitable political future. It forefronts collective efforts by women and other historically marginalised groups in diverse arenas: within movement spaces, organisations, and governments. The contributions include cases from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, and multiple countries from the Asia Pacific and the sub-Saharan African region by scholars, activists, practitioners, and political workers. The contributions in this issue. Collectively guest edited by Peggy Nash, Tainah Pereira, and Jennifer Smout, this special issue advances, strengthens and expands the theory and practice around transformative feminist leadership.
The current state of affairs
This special issue comes at a time when governments and civil society organisations around the world are taking stock of gender-equality related progress to mark the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA). Since the BPfA, several other international and regional commitments such as the Sustainable Development Goals (2015) and the Protocol for the Rights on Women in Africa (2003) have attempted to ensure women’s full and meaningful political participation, yet, enforcement by governments has often been weak. Progress, therefore, has been slow and sporadic.
Women continue to be under-represented in political institutions. For instance, in Brazil, there is a significant gap between the country’s demographic composition and women’s representation in formal politics. Against this backdrop, Aflalo (in this issue) demonstrates the integral role of A Tenda das Candidatas in Brazil, in creating a feminist network of women in politics, through trainings offered to women–primarily Black women and LGBTQIA+ persons. Aflalo discusses the transformative effects of training in developing political leadership and networks. In the context of Argentina, Martelotte et al. (in this issue) discuss the traditional as well as newer challenges that marginalised women face when navigating the political landscape. They show the importance of seeking training, education, and leaning on ancestral knowledge.
Against all odds, when women do take up political office, it does not necessarily lead to gender justice. For instance, while South Africa is amongst one of the nations with the highest women’s representation in parliament, there are substantive gains that are yet to be achieved – women continue to be more likely to be unemployed, bear the majority of care burden, and continue to face high levels of gender-based violence. Political representation does not always translate to substantive power as needing to toe the party-line limits what women leaders can do. Thus, it is not merely women’s leadership but feminist, transformative leadership that is necessary for meaningful change.
The authors of these articles examine emerging forms and trajectories of political leadership, highlighting how political actors are mobilising their communities and bringing them into political spaces through meaningful and effective representation. In doing so, they are gradually challenging and reshaping existing political structures and processes. The contributions to this issue also demonstrate the diverse ways in which women and other marginalised groups confront and resist discrimination, threats, intimidation, and violence, while asserting their rights and demanding greater recognition and participation within political spaces.
Women’s political leadership within histories of power and oppression
Political participation for historically marginalised and excluded groups, including women, has been moulded by multiple factors, including but not limited to histories of colonialism, racism, religion, casteism, and more recently, neoliberalism. Nonetheless, these very groups have historically also been in the vanguard of the struggles for social justice and human rights – be it anti-colonial movements, gender justice movements, or environmental movements. Challenging systems of power is a constitutive aspect of feminist transformative leadership. Authors in this issue demonstrate the ways in which social norms and expectations, prejudices, and structural and systemic challenges shape women’s political participation; they demonstrate how women actively negotiate multiple and varied challenges and situations to carve a space for themselves in politics.
Wilf and Mishra’s article (in this issue) showcase how patriarchal norms, colonial and caste histories shape women and girls’ perceptions about political participation and leadership in India. In the context of Ecuador, Lastra et al. (in this issue) shed light on how patriarchal expectations and gendered norms shape men’s attitudes and women’s roles and responsibilities within political spaces. Women’s participation is also shaped by religion, with some reporting it as a facilitating factor while others perceiving it as a hindrance. In the context of Ethiopia, Ayemohammed (in this issue) traces the historical exclusion of Ethiopian Muslims. The absence of care policies and services; poor access to electoral financing; discrimination based on ethnicity, ableism, sexuality; and gendered violence also affect women’s political participation, as Martelotte et al. demonstrate. In the context of Kenya, Muganda (in this issue) centres how Queer activists must strategically reveal and hide their Queer identity within social movement spaces to be able to meaningfully participate. Najjar et al. (in this issue) demonstrate financial constraints, limited training, and exclusion from decision-making processes which shape political participation in the SWANA region.
Despite the odds, women and marginalised groups have resisted and challenged these structures and systems of oppression, in turn reshaping political landscapes and bringing about transformative change. Sandoval and Corona (in this issue) locate Mexico’s achievement of gender parity in political participation within histories of collective activism wherein women politicians strategised and synchronised efforts across party lines to bring more women into formal political spaces. Lumbwe (in this issue) centres the often forgotten women activists and political figures who shaped Zambia’s political landscape, arguing that their legacies and rich histories be integrated within mentorship and knowledge sharing initiatives to ensure the sustainability of feminist leadership.
Pathways to political participation and leadership
Marginalised groups, including women, have diverse trajectories and motivations that ultimately lead them to positions of political leadership. On route, they also negotiate varied challenges and deploy a range of strategies.
At the local level, Najjar et al., show how agricultural food co-operatives in the SWANA region act as spaces for women’s assertion of their socio-economic agency and leadership. The authors argue that through the empowerment of women’s grassroots leadership, broader socio-political transformation becomes possible in the region. Sandoval and Corona map the entry points and trajectories of women in formal politics in Mexico, reflecting on their motivations, leadership styles, and characteristics.
After gaining entry into formal and informal political spaces, women and marginalised groups have to navigate a largely inequitable and often hostile political space. Strategies to navigate this space include cultivating solidarities, alliances; continuing advocacy and influencing through social and grassroots movements; and building capacities. In sub-Saharan Africa, Banchoff et al. (in this issue) demonstrate how women leaders (working on reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health and nutrition and immunisation) within national governmental and non-governmental organisations had the most influence within their networks. The authors argue that building more diverse and inclusive networks can then mean improved health outcomes as well as better opportunities to access resources and influence policy. In Mexico, women politicians collaborated across party lines to bring about gender parity in political participation (Sandoval & Corona). Aflalo highlights the importance of collaborations and alliance building across institutions, movements, and political parties. In the context of Brazil, Afro-Brazilian and Indigenous women interlocutors assert that creating gated spaces for those historically excluded is also a powerful way of asserting political presence. Social and grassroots movements have been a powerful route to influencing political processes, as Trotte (in this issue) demonstrates in the context of Bolivia. Coca growers’ movements, Indigenous women’s groups and unions, regional feminist networks have played a critical role in infusing principles of de-patriarchalisation and decolonisation within national institutions and international policy and shaped local and everyday politics in Bolivia. Several contributors to this special issue argue for and demonstrate the significance of trainings, skill-building, mentorship, drawing from the knowledge of elders/ ancestral knowledge.
Social movements, institutional politics, and feminist political transformations
Several articles in this issue track the tensions, contestations, and alignments that emerge across political and social movement and formal political processes. At the same time, they draw attention to the possibilities that emerge from these interactions, particularly in strengthening feminist leadership and creating political outcomes that are more just and equitable in terms of gender.
Jima-González et al. (in this issue) discuss the important role of women’s movements in advocating for greater political representation of women. Hoque et al. (in this issue) highlight the importance of ecological and social movements in centring the perspectives of historically marginalised groups and furthering both anti-caste and anti-patriarchal politics. Najjar et al. recommend strengthening the links between grassroots leadership and national and regional governance structures. They also highlight the important role that local food cooperatives can play in promoting rural development, while emphasising the need for democratic governance and greater gender inclusion. Trotte discusses how the Bolivian women’s movement is moulding political alternatives to foreign policy and domestic governance through the lens of depatriarchalisation. Through an exploration of what it means to be an advocate for women’s rights and being a leader within the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) in Ecuador, Lastra et al. expand the understandings and definitions of feminism and leadership.
Beyond formal political spaces, inequities also persist within social justice movements. While there are convergences and support, there are also tensions between social movements and formal/ institutional politics. This is discussed in Martelotte et al.’s article in the context of Argentina. This also becomes evident in the experiences of Queer leaders within social movement spaces in Kenya, Muganda draws attention to the voices of people who are often marginalised even within social justice movements, encouraging us to think more critically about what genuine inclusion and representation in leadership really involve. In this context, building and sustaining a diverse network of feminist leaders can become an important means of bringing about political change (Aflalo). This becomes especially important in the current political climate, where hard-won rights are increasingly at risk of being undermined. Strengthening the connections between social and political movements and formal political and policy processes is therefore essential to protecting these gains and advancing more inclusive forms of political change.
Supporting and fostering transformative leadership
Even while there is progress in ensuring women’s political participation, a gender transformative approach to political leadership remains missing from policy discourse. Several authors in this issue discuss the measures and support infrastructures that are necessary to address structural obstacles and facilitate feminist transformative leadership.
The development and implementation of care sensitive policies can facilitate women’s political participation. Martelotte et al. centre the experiences of participants who often have to miss family time and important events during election campaigns. The political participation of Trans women and Afro-descendant women is critical to the formulation and implementation of care-sensitive policies. Additionally, laws and policies that account for intersectional experiences are critical to enable and foster women’s leadership.
Riha et al. (in this issue) argue for the institutionalisation of feminist transformative leadership within the health sector. They assert that this would enable better access to resources, recognition of women’s paid and unpaid labour, and facilitate achievement of gender-equitable health outcomes. Lumbwe advocates for mentorship programmes and intergenerational learning as ways to enrich feminist leadership and feminist movements. Further, integrating political mentorship and training components into policy can make the political sphere more inclusive.
Apart from supportive mechanisms, laws and policies need to address the different kinds of violence that women in politics. Top-down and tokenistic policy measures alone are unlikely to bring about meaningful change. This special issue highlights the limitations of approaches such as quotas, while drawing attention to the importance of other strategies, including mentorship programmes, awareness-building initiatives, equitable access to funding, and gender-sensitive electoral processes. Most importantly, it emphasises the need to ensure that the voices and lived experiences of historically oppressed and marginalised groups are genuinely heard and reflected in political decision-making.
Conclusion
Feminist transformative leadership not only challenges traditional models of leadership, it actively questions power dynamics and inequities while seeking to redistribute power instead of accumulating it. Such leadership centres the voices and perspectives of the most oppressed and seeks to develop anti-racist, anti-patriarchal, anti-ableist, and anti-casteist political cultures. Articles in this special issue demonstrate the linkages among feminist transformative leadership, social justice, decolonisation of knowledge. Contributions foreground the importance of collective organising and action, and shared responsibility in developing and sustaining feminist transformative leadership. They also highlight the critical and powerful impact of building alliances and solidarities to further women’s substantive political engagement and leadership.
This article is based on the introduction to the special issue, authored by Peggy Nash, Tainah Pereira, Jennifer Smout, Shivani Satija, and Anandita Ghosh. Read the full introduction here: https://doi.org/10.1080/13552074.2025.2532956