Far beyond what is measured: governance feminism and indicators in Colombia

• Author: Lina Buchely
• Position: Researcher of the Law School's International Law Area at Universidad de los Andes, Colombia
• Pages: 311-374

Int. Law: Rev. Colomb. Derecho Int. Bogotá (Colombia) N° 25: 311-374, julio - diciembre de 2014

FAR BEYOND WHAT IS MEASURED:

GOVERNANCE FEMINISM AND

INDICATORS IN COLOMBIA*

MÁS ALLÁ DE LO QUE ES MEDIBLE:

EL FEMINISMO DE LA GOBERNANZA Y

LOS INDICADORES EN COLOMBIA

LINA M. CÉSPEDES-BÁEZ**

Reception date: May 30th, 2014

Acceptance date: June 30th, 2014

Available Online: September 30th, 2014

TO CITE THIS ARTICLE / PARA CITAR ESTE ARTÍCULO

Céspedes-Báez, Lina M., Far beyond what is Measured: G overnanc e Feminis m

and Indicators in Colombia, 25 International Law, Revista Col ombiana de

Derecho Internacional, 311-374 (2014). http://dx.doi.org/10.11144/Javeriana.

il14-25.fbwm

doi: 10.11144/Javeriana.il14-25.fbwm

ISSN:1692-8156

* This art icle was written and c onceived together as pa rt of a research projec t with the

Law School’s Intern ational Law Are a of Universid ad de los Ande s, Colombia. Th is

paper is bas ed on the present ations the author gave on May 31, 2013 at the Annua l Law

and Societ y Association Meet ings, LSA, in Boston, Massachusetts, and on June 4, 2013

at Harvard Law S chool’s Institute for Global Law and Pol icy’s Conference. Th is study

was made pos sible by the nanc ial support of the Int ernational Deve lopment Research

Centre (IDRC), of Canada, und er the project: Global Administrative Law: Improving In-

ter-instit utional Connect ions in Global an d National Regulato ry Governance.

** Lina M. C éspede s-Báez is re searcher of t he Law School’s Inter national Law Ar ea at

Universida d de los Andes, Colo mbia. She receive d her law degree fro m Universidad del

Rosario, Colo mbia. She has a sp eciali zed deg ree in tax l aw from Universi dad del Rosar io,

a Master in G ender Studies from Un iversidad Naciona l de Colombia, and an LLM with

a concentr ation in internation al law from Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva Uni versity,

USA. She was a Fulbr ight Scholar dur ing the 2012-2014 academic p eriods. She wa s select-

ed Doctora l Fellow of Harvard’s Institute for Glob al Law and Policy for the 2014-2015

academ ic year. She is a SJD candid ate at Temple University, USA.

Contact: cespedeslina@gmail.com

Int. Law: Rev. Colomb. Derecho Int. Bogotá (Colombia) N° 25: 311-374, julio - diciembre de 2014

312 LINA M. CÉSPEDES-BÁEZ

ABSTRACT

This art icle analyzes how power femi nism, a mainstream fe minist trend

in intern ational legal d iscours e, was incor porated into t he Colombian

legal syste m through the proc ess of design and d iscussion of indi cators to

measure th e Colombian govern ment’s compliance w ith the Constit utional

Court’s orders regard ing internal forced di splacement in the countr y. To

do so, this paper e xamines the p articipation of Cor poración Sisma Muje r,

one of the most well-k nown Colombian wome n’s rights NGOs, in th e debates

inside and out side the Constitutional Cou rt that led this Cour t to adopt

a battery of i ndicators to track inter nally displ aced women’s effective

enjoyment of rights, and in general a women-s ensitive approach to forced

displace ment. To unveil the theoret ical foundations of C orporación Si sma

Mujer’s intervention s and strategies b efore the Constitutiona l Court, this

article c ombines a theoretical ap proach with documenta ry research and

interv iews. Nancy Fraser’s paper R ethinking the Public Sphe re, and Janet

Halley, Prabha Kotis waran, Hila Shamir a nd Chantal Thomas’ conc ept

governance feminism constitute the basi c theoreti cal fram ework. Docume nts

drafted by Si sma Mujer and Const itutional Cour t decision s that accep ted,

appropriated a nd transformed Sisma’s claims are a nalyzed t hrough the

lens of Fraser an d Halley, Kotiswaran, Shamir a nd Thomas’ theoretical

contributions . Intervie ws with Sisma’s staff, an d with other rele vant actors

complement what is foun d in documents and judi cial decisions.

Keywords: power fem inism; gover nance femi nism; indicators; inte rnal

forced displ acement; women; globa l governance

Int. Law: Rev. Colomb. Derecho Int. Bogotá (Colombia) N° 25: 311-374, julio - diciembre de 2014

313

FAR BEYOND WHAT IS MEASURED: GOVERNAN CE

FEMINISM AND INDICATORS IN COLOMBIA

RESUMEN

Este artículo a naliza cómo el fem inismo del p oder (power feminis m), una

corriente femin ista en el discurso jurídico i nternacional, se ha incorp orado

en el ordenam iento juríd ico colombia no por medio del d iseño y dis cusión

de indica dores para medi r el cumplimiento del gobier no colombiano de las

órdenes de la C orte Constitucional s obre desplazamiento forzad o interno en

el país. Para log rar lo anterior se ana liza la participación d e la Corporación

Sisma Mujer, u na de las ONG promotoras de derechos de las mujeres más

conocida s en Colombia, en los de bates dentro y fuera de la Corte C onstitu-

cional que ll evaron a esta Corte a adoptar una bater ía de indicadores para

hacer segui miento al goce efectivo de los d erechos de las m ujeres desplazad as

y, en general, a im plementar un enfoque s ensible a las mujeres e n el análisis

del desplaza miento forzado. Para c onocer los fun damentos teór icos de las

intervencion es y estrategias us adas por la Corp oración Sism a Mujer ante

el Alto Tribunal Const itucional, e ste artículo com bina una aproxim ación

teórica con investiga ción documen tal y entrevistas. El texto d e Nancy Fraser

Rethinking th e Public Sphere, y el conc epto del feminismo de la go bernanza

(governance feminis m) de Janet Halley, Prabha Koti swaran, Hila S hamir

y Chantal Th omas constitu yen el marco teórico b ásico. Los doc umentos

elaborados po r Sisma Mujer y l as decision es de la Corte Con stitucional

que aceptaron , apropiaron y tran sformaron las a rmaciones d e Sisma, s e

analizan de sde la perspectiva de F raser y los aportes teór icos de Halley,

Kotiswaran , Shamir y Thoma s. Entrevistas con el perso nal de Sisma, y co n

otros actores relevantes complementan lo enc ontrado en los docume ntos y

en las decisi ones judiciales.

Palabras clave: Feminismo d el poder, femini smo de la go bernanza , indic adores,

desplazami ento forzado interno, mujeres , gobernanza global

SUMMARY

INTRODUCTION.- I. PUBLIC SPHERES AND GOVERN ANCE F EMINISM.- II. GLOBAL

GOVERNANCE LANDS IN COLOMBIA: IDPS SHIFT THE BOUNDARIES BETWEEN NATIONAL

AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS.- III. SISMA MUJER AND G OVER NANCE FEMIN ISM.-

IV. POWER FEMINISM IN COLOMBIA: GOVER NANCE FEMINISM THROUGH THE

DEBATE ON INDICATORS.- CONCLUSION: WHAT THIS POWER MEANS.- BIBLIOGRAPHY.