Women's networks: their participation in and influence on the sustainable development agenda.

Through a selective review of the literature on sustainable development, this thesis identifies the concepts of networking, participation and redistribution as crucial to the philosophy and politics of sustainable development. Feminist perspectives on these concepts are used as analytical tools in a study of women's networks and their participation in, and influence on, the sustainable development agenda and the implementation of Agenda 21 (UN, 1992) in the 1990s.
It is argued that the participation of women's networks in developing the sustainability agenda, although crucial to the implementation of Agenda 21. was limited. The dynamics between political actors resulting from international agreements, such as Agenda 21. and the influence of women's networks on associated processes and outcomes are currently under researched in the literature. This is explored in the thesis. It is suggested that the principles of associative democracy, group representation and “user involvement" could be synthesized and employed to strengthen democratic representation in the political arena relating to the sustainability agenda. It is further suggested that these principles could serve as a model for similar exercises in the future.
The methodology used is qualitative. An empirical study involving interviews and participant observation of women's networks is presented. So too is a critical review of the "grey" literature on the influence of women's networks on Agenda 21 and the scholarly literature on the implementation of local Agenda 21 (LA21). The need for LA21 consultations to take account of the views of women's networks, and for new forms of democratic representation to be developed is illustrated.

A thesis submitted to Middlesex University in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy.