Advocacy or activism: gender politics in Fiji

Nicole George asks whether new insights can be gained by differentiating between advocacy and activism when examining the work of civil society organisations in relation to gender equality. Focusing upon the ways in which women\u27s organisations in Fiji approach issues of gender equality, she contrasts strategies employed in the 1960s and 1970s with those adopted in more recent times and consider the extent to which the prevailing political culture has afforded these groups the space to exercise a critical political voice. Nicole George asks whether new insights can be gained by differentiating between advocacy and activism when examining the work of civil society organisations in relation to gender equality. The scholarly community and practitioners in the field of development have shown increasing interest in the political activities of non-governmental organisations and civil society more broadly. Until fairly recently, these groups have been characterised as innovative and autonomous agents of reform. While this view has tended to provide a relatively homogenised view of civil society, it has also ignored the extent to which individual organisations within the \u27third sector\u27 negotiate space within a broader political culture that can at the one time place both opportunities and constraints in their path. This paper is part of a new wave of more critical literature which aims to provide a detailed portrait of this terrain\u27s complexity. Focusing upon the ways in which women\u27s organisations in Fiji approach issues of gender equality, the author contrasts strategies employed in the 1960s and 1970s with those adopted in more recent times and consider the extent to which the prevailing political culture has afforded these groups the space to exercise a critical political voice