A new article authored by our department faculty member Prof. Dr. Gonca Oğuz Gök and Ayda Sezgin, titled “Evolution Without Progress? Tracing the Contested Expansion of Women, Peace, and Security Agenda (WPS) in International Organizations With Evidence From the UN, EU, and NATO,” has been published in Alternatives: Global, Local, Political.
The article examines how the United Nations (UN), the European Union (EU), and NATO have expanded the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda and questions whether this normative expansion truly represents progress. Combining constructivist norm contestation theory with feminist institutionalism, the study analyzes how the WPS agenda has evolved from discursive commitments into contested practices shaped by budgeting processes and implementation mechanisms.
Using a qualitative comparative framework, the study explores the institutional approaches of the UN as a global norm entrepreneur, the EU as a regional security community, and NATO as a military alliance. The findings demonstrate that although the WPS agenda has expanded conceptually and institutionally, this expansion often remains largely discursive, as implementation and financial commitments continue to lag behind. The article further highlights how bureaucratic inertia, fragmented financing, and growing gender backlash at the state level constrain meaningful normative progress.
Article link: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/03043754261445791
