The Women in Development movement's effect on economic development policies of the United Nations, 1975--1985

This dissertation is a case study examining how the international Women-in-Development (WID) movement, (comprised of academic researchers, policy professionals in development agencies, and grassroots representatives associated with the United Nations Decade for Women), effected change in economic development policy within the UN from 1975--1985. The study explores factors influencing policy reformulation during this decade of economic development practice and the implications of the process of this policy change for international relations theory.; Two research questions are at the core of this study: How, and why, did the UN respond to sustained professional negotiations with WID representatives? In the process of answering these questions, this case study demonstrates how WID evolved organizationally from an international advocacy movement into an international institutional regime as defined by Keohane (1984). The dissertation finds that iterated policy negotiations between UN program staff and WID representatives effected a significant change in international economic development policy-making. The evidence of such change is found in the redefinition of UN economic development project standards to include gender. Thus, by the time of the conclusion of the UN Decade for Women, the cumulative influence of WID representatives in policy negotiations had resulted in the establishment of the 1986 mandate requiring development projects to meet gender-inclusive standards for planning, implementation, and evaluation.; The conclusion of this dissertation examines the significance of the empirical findings of this case study to the development of theory within the field of international relations.