Introduction: Critical Junctures, Pockets of Progress and Building Backlash for Gender in Diplomacy

This edited collection is intended to bring new contexts and research innovations to study the changing nature of gender and diplomacy. Whilst historically most diplomats were men, in the twenty-first century, the proportion of women (and others of diverse backgrounds) has increased markedly and in select cases, surpasses men. A ‘gender turn’ in the study of diplomacy has heralded the study of gender and diplomacy as an important frontier, but one which could benefit from further interrogation. Diplomacy scholars have shown that dominant narratives project an archetype of a diplomat as a man and diplomacy as a terrain reserved for men. However, recent deliberation on diplomacy as a ‘feminine art’ complicates this established ‘masculinized subject position’. Further, we are now a century on since many ministries of foreign affairs first opened up positions for women, constituting a critical moment of reflection: how far have we come, and how far have we left to go. Through canvassing case studies from regions across the Asia, Asia–Pacific, Latin America and Europe, and delving into novel datasets drawn from a global evidence base, this book aims to: (1) broaden the scholarship on gender and diplomacy by region; (2) embed a more consistently intersectional approach to gender and diplomacy research; and (3) ask scholars to reflect on the ways in which changes occur—in the context of geopolitical trends or simply in the context of women’s rising numbers in diplomacy, for instance. The book shows that diplomatic institutions remain gendered, but often in surprising ways that herald further investigation in an era of diplomatic turmoil and gender backlash on the global stage.