Gender (In)Equaity (SDG #5) and the Global South

By the end of the 1990s, in the wake of the UN decade for women and the many regional and international conferences involved in the process, transnational feminist networks of scholars and activists had both strengthened their ties to one another and deepened their analyses of gendered struggles in the Global South. This included an increasing awareness of the imbrication of gendered inequalities in global systems of power, particularly through the imposition of structural adjustment programs and adoption of neoliberal policies of privatization and deregulation in the name of development. As scholars and feminists have long noted, these policy prescriptions promote inequality and feminized poverty.

Here it is important to note that there are no clean breaks between South and North, which are conceptual rather than strictly empirical categories. So, for instance, while the COVID-19 pandemic revealed stark differences between women in the Global North and the Global South, it also brought to the fore the predicament of poor, racialized women in the US who faced equally dangerous and treacherous conditions. The moment called for recognizing not only the ‘pockets’ of the South in the North but also for greater interrogation of the political-economic systems and ideologies that shape and link women’s lives across the globe.

It is increasingly clear that in the absence of structural changes, especially prevailing neoclassical models of economic growth, policy prescriptions or state proclamations will not translate into changed ideological or material conditions on the ground. Writing from South Africa in 2011, feminist media scholar Tanja Bosch noted that “even though progressive legislation has been passed in South Africa, South African media reproduces traditional gender discourses” (27). As elsewhere, here corporatized media magnified the very discourses that maintain and reproduce gendered injustices and hierarchies. Similarly, in Latin America, Kelly Ernst et al. note that recent efforts to promote equal rights for women coexist with ongoing discrimination (3).

In their recent book, Insurgent Visions: Feminism, Justice, and Solidarity Talpade Mohanty and Linda Carty remind us in that in India after the gang rape of Jyoti Singh or Nirbhaya (the fearless one) in December 2012, nationwide feminist mobilization for change produced the Justice Verma Report but that in itself could not and did not lead to major societal shifts (110). In this context, Mohanty and Carty argue for both a place-based form of resistance, as well as a transnational, anti-capitalist and anti-racist feminist lens through which to combat gendered violence and patriarchy.

In 2015, the United Nations adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), based on the Millennium Development Goals (2000-2015), with the stated aim of “guiding” the world toward “peace and prosperity” during the 2015-2030 period. According to US economist Jeffrey Sachs, these goals are “an important idea [that] could help move the world to a sustainable trajectory” (2206). The SDGs mark a break from their predecessor, which only applied to so-called developing countries. In contrast, the SDGs require all nations to work toward these goals. As the American Anthropologist noted shortly after, “by underscoring the need to rethink our models of economic growth in an increasingly interconnected world, the SDGs appear to eschew the patronizing relationship between North and South implied by more traditional development frameworks (https://www.americananthropologist.org/deprovincializing-development-series).”

Goal #5, “situated at the intersection of feminism and development ... particularly in areas considered necessary for economic growth, such as education, health, and finance” (Ogochukwu 2), focuses on gender equality.

In this backdrop, the Journal of Global South Studies, published biannually by the University of Florida Press, invites high-quality submissions that investigate the production of and resistance to classed, racialized and caste marked gender (in)equalities in the Global South. Topics may include (but are not limited to):

• Feminist critiques of SDG #5
• The COVID-19 pandemic and gender (in)equality in the Global South
• Women’s health in the Global South
• SDG #5 and digital media
• The impact of SDG #5 in the lives of rural women of the Global South
• Women’s empowerment and agency in the Global South
• Global South feminist movements of liberation and resistance
• Alternative futures proposed by women in the Global South
• Women’s work and care to mitigate environmental destruction
• Women’s trust and solidarity in the Global South
• Combating gender violence in the Global South
• Trauma and activism in the Global South
• Unequal workplaces in the Global South
• South-South connections among women

 

Submission Deadline

Manuscripts should be submitted by June 3, 2026. Submissions are reviewed on a rolling basis, but early submission is highly encouraged as manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review. This special issue is aiming for publication in Spring 2027.

 

Submission Guidelines

Manuscripts should follow the journal guidelines:

• Manuscripts (less than 10,000 words) must be original and not under consideration elsewhere must follow The Chicago Manual of Style (18th Edition)
• Follow the official journal template and Chicago (Author-Date) citation style.
• Abstract: Minimum 250 words, Keywords: 5–7
• Manuscripts must be submitted exclusively through the OJS platform

For further information on these guidelines, please refer to the following webpage: https://journals.upress.ufl.edu/JGSS/guidelines.

If you have any questions, please email journalofgss@gmail.com.