Linking the transnational and the domestic in social movements: The case of the Latin American women's movement

The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate the international effects on domestic social movements. The goal is to create a typology of factors and mechanisms to more systematically understand how the international environment shapes domestic movements. In this dissertation I borrow from social movement theory and IR diffusion theory to look specifically at what international factors matters for domestic movements and to uncover mechanisms that illustrate how international actors and institutions are linked to domestic movement actors. What I found was that the three main approaches to the study of social movements—political opportunity structures, frames, and resources—are also essential to understanding transnational activism as they are to any other study seeking a comprehensive analysis of social movement activity. In addition, I found that diffusion theory offers the conceptual tools that provide a more concrete depiction of the relationship between transnational and domestic movement actors.