Paradiplomacy through feminist lenses

Current studies on paradiplomacy scarcely focus on the feminist dimension of subnational external actions. Nevertheless, as feminist scholars assert, neglecting to incorporate a gender perspective in examining the phenomenon may result in overlooking its crucial aspects. Therefore, the dialogue between feminist theory and paradiplomacy research could offer new insights and significantly enhance the understanding of the increasing international involvement of sub-state actors. This chapter has two main objectives. First, it aims to reveal how feminist theories can be applied to enhance the understanding of paradiplomacy. Theories such as feminist IR, feminist institutionalism, and transnational feminism, despite being scarcely recognized in the research regarding sub-state international cooperation, provide conceptual tools and theoretical frameworks valuable for enriching paradiplomacy studies. This chapter illustrates the previous application of these theories in paradiplomacy research and indicates future research directions. Second, the chapter emphasizes the importance of applying gendered lenses to examine sub-state international involvement to gain a broader understanding of the current scope of paradiplomatic activities by illustrating the expansion of gendered and explicitly feminist practices. Overall, this chapter provides readers with a feminist toolkit for further developing research on subnational diplomacy by uncovering the usefulness of feminist theories in studying paradiplomacy.