'Where are the Women?' Transnational feminist interventions at the United Nations World Conference Against Racism

Racism remains as important a subject matter today as when the United Nations (U.N.) was diligently focused on the dismantling of apartheid in Southern Africa. The U.N. has a history of combating racism that stretches well over four decades, beginning with the adoption of the U.N. Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination on 20 November 1963. The adoption of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination followed in 1965, which was an important step in securing a global public commitment to combating racism. The U.N. anit-racism work continued with the initiation of three U.N. Decades to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination, with the World Conference Against Racism (WCARs) of 1978, 1983, and 2001 being the central features of the Decades. Throughout this time, the U.N. issued resolutions supporting liberation and decolonization struggles, even legitimizing the use of armed struggle in those movements. The U.N. commitment to anti-racism has remained steadfast since the 1960s, but in the 21st century, the dedication to combat racism needed revitalization and the WCAR 2001 in Durban, South Africa presented a crucial opportunity to make an impact.; My dissertation investigates how feminists who understand racism as transnational---as being particular to nation-states yet having global manifestations and impact---negotiate issues of racism at the U.N. Based on participant observation, archival research, and interviews with U.N. officials and representatives from feminist organizations in Canada, Mexico, Peru and the United States, the study shows how feminist understandings of racism have irretrievably changed the discourse at the U.N. regarding race, racism, intolerance, and xenophobia. Feminists viewed the WCAR 2001 as an opportunity to influence the discourse of racism and to confront their respective governments and the international community on their ineffectiveness in dealing with racism. Largely overshadowed by the attacks of 11 September 2001 in the United States, the WCAR 2001 continued an important international public record of transnational anti-racism work at the U.N. level.