Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala at the WTO: A success for bourgeois feminism

As of March 1, 2021 –just one week before the commemoration of International Women's Day (March 8)–, [Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala](https://www.wto.org/english/ news_e/news21_e/dgno_15feb21_e.htm) officially became the first woman to lead the World Trade Organization (WTO), being also the first person from an African country (Nigeria) to hold the position. It is worth mentioning that since 2019 she also has American nationality, so we are talking about an African-American woman.

Although this event will imply a change for the international trade regime at a crucial moment for the organization that has reflected, with particular impetus, the multilateral crisis exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the commitment to the new leader is also a success for feminism, specifically for liberal feminism – to which Nancy Fraser also calls “elite feminism”–, which will not necessarily translate into a contribution to the fight for gender equality, since the simple incorporation of women into formal and systemic legal structures promotes the exclusion and legitimization of patriarchalism.

The analysis of this milestone from a gender perspective is extremely important, but unfortunately it has taken a back seat to the focus on the commercial problems inherited by the new president. In this understanding, the objective of this article is to understand how and why this event is added to the "counterrevolutionary liberal feminism that, of little or nothing, serves in the struggles for the radical transformation of the world" [1], from of the premises of this feminist branch.

Likewise, it seeks to demonstrate the tendency of exclusion promoted by liberal feminism, particularly in international politics, and to analyze the challenges and opportunities for the new director beyond trade. Before getting into the matter, it is important to be clear about two important points: 1) As Marianne H. Marchand, points out /d1467358-94fe-4d45-890d-7e183836524b.pdf) it is a mistake to relate gender exclusively to women because this is a much broader concept that also includes men, femininities and masculinities; and 2) it is equally wrong to ignore the diversity between the categories of feminism (such as cultural feminism, liberal feminism, Marxist feminism, etc.), which are to some extent complementary.

Why is liberal feminism elite feminism?

In International Relations, different theoretical currents of feminism can be distinguished that in a certain way reflect the dominant theories of the discipline. "For example, since the articulation of the second wave of feminism in the 1960s and 1970s, a distinction has been made between liberal feminism and socialist feminism.

By liberal feminism, sometimes called bourgeois feminism, is understood a feminism that is focused on equality between men and women, although it does not question, meanwhile, the capitalist system or liberal democracy. In the context of development studies, liberal feminism has been associated with the process of integrating women into existing structures, a practice that has been called add women and stir. [2]

Liberal feminism is part of the so-called domesticated feminism or equality feminism, which is criticized for its implicit conservatism, since "from this perspective it is only possible to convert women into men, since the socio-political structures have been Created by men for their own benefit and satisfaction of their needs.

Although the political-liberal movement is characterized by rational autonomy, individualism, the distinction between the public and private spheres, universalism and impartiality, the equalization of women with men when joining the liberal environment is precarious, because although the legal structure is not affected by sexism and discrimination, non-formal structures intruded on tradition and patriarchalism encourage exclusion, which would explain why even in the most perfect formal equality systems women do not have access to the positions of greater responsibility." [3]

The denomination "bourgeois feminism" or "elite feminism" as a synonym of liberal feminism emphasizes the lack of intersectionality in the insertion of women in existing structures, since we are talking about the one that "proposes a partial rebellion accessible to a few women well wealthy who are already in positions of power before. A rebellion within the allowed schemes that does not question the elementary systems of exploitation, such as the international division of labor and the colonization of the market in daily life.” [4]

Thus, for example, we have that the majority of successful women leaders in leadership positions (55%) come from developed countries. \ [5 ] The case of Dr. Okonjo-Iweala is no exception because although she has presented herself as an African woman who, due to her gender and ancestry, will represent certain vulnerable groups, reality emphasizes other types of foreign interests to social demands. Even the president's own profile shows signs of the path to come under her leadership, although this does not take anything for granted, it cannot go unnoticed either.

Who is Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala?

The new director of the WTO is the daughter of the mathematician and economist Chukwuka Ben Okonjo, monarch of the Obahai royal house of Ogwashi-Ukwu (2007-2019) and also a university professor Kamene Okonjo. Her family's social position and intellectual profile ensured her a higher education rarely available to Nigerians born before national independence in 1960, so she received school instruction at select schools and began pre-university studies at the International School. of Ibadan (ISI).

She subsequently trained as an economist at Harvard University, and completed a PhD at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the area of Regional Economics and Development. She worked for the World Bank Group for 25 years (her last term was 2007-2011) and was her country's Minister of Finance. Her candidacy for the leadership of the WTO was announced by Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari in June 2020. \ [6 ]

Although this high profile undoubtedly sounds promising, and the fact that such a prepared woman has been chosen to head one of the most important institutional bastions of the neoliberal system cannot and should not be detracted from, her figure should not be exalted to the detriment either. of the feminist social movements that have made themselves heard from different corners of the world for activism and for the sum of efforts, since there is no direct correlation between the election of the former Nigerian financial minister and the feminist struggle.

For this reason, it is extremely important to study and understand this change from an intersectional perspective that includes other categories besides gender (such as socioeconomic ones) that allow us to glimpse the wide spectrum of interests that the election of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala will leave out, particularly because it is a replica of the aforementioned patriarchal trend of "add women and stir" that promotes gender inequality in high positions, a practice that excludes women themselves due to their racial, economic, social conditions, etc.

Gender inequality in senior positions

The liberal system that has persisted since the post-war era has encouraged the exclusion of women in high positions, especially in the political sphere. According to the United Nations (UN), the representation of women is insufficient at all levels of decision-making in the world. Therefore, reaching gender parity in politics is still a long way off.

Currently, only 22 countries have female heads of state or government, and 119 countries have never been headed by women; As of January 1, 2020, only 21% of those holding ministries were women, and in only 14 countries have government cabinets reached 50% or more in the representation of women. At this rate, gender equality at the highest decision-making levels will not be achieved for another 130 years. [7]

It should be noted that the five ministerial portfolios most commonly held by women are those considered "soft", based merely on the gender roles pre-established by the patriarchy: family, childhood, youth, older adults, disability, social affairs, environment, natural resources. , energy, employment, work, vocational training, and women's affairs and gender equality.

In the context of the "new normal" resulting from COVID-19, specialists Maria V. Sokolova, Alisa DiCaprio and Nicole Bivens Collinson analyzed the historical leadership structure of 30 large international organizations (covering the majority of organizations and UN specialized agencies) since its creation and found that in total there have only been 33 women in leadership positions out of 291 leaders.

Among the 33 women leaders identified, only 5 were appointed before the year 2000. In addition, 15 organizations, that is, half the sample, have never had a woman in charge. [8] Okonjo-Iweala joins those privileged women who have had the opportunity to occupy positions intended for men, which will not imply a real change for the structures that legitimize gender inequality, but it could have a significant impact negative in anti-systemic feminist efforts.

The challenges and opportunities for Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala beyond trade

Since the beginning of her term, the Afro-American leader has faced a series of difficulties inside and outside the WTO, including the impossibility of concluding the Doha Round and of carrying out internal reforms in key areas, such as fishing, in a context of multilateral crisis exacerbated by protectionism, the trade war and the health crisis. Overall, solving these problems will be a daunting task.

Beyond commerce, the arrival of the new director promises a positive impact for liberal feminist efforts, since her role represents a watershed for the inclusion of women in high positions, particularly in the commercial sphere; However, this will not guarantee a really significant increase in the numbers of women nor that their possible successors or new colleagues come from different contexts than the privileged and exclusive ones that most of the leaders in the world have, much less guarantee that they will be they will represent the interests of all the women of the world.

On the other hand, the performance of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala at the head of the WTO could have a general negative impact for feminism, since there is a risk that the possible failures under his leadership in the next four years will be attributed to his condition of being a woman, a criticism that was not made of previous directors despite their inability to respond to the problems that the new president is now inheriting.

The echo of this risk could resonate in the efforts of the most radical feminist movements that, in comparison to liberal feminism, fight for a true systemic change. The possible missteps of the leader represent an opportunity to discredit the leadership role of women in a totalitarian way, which will exacerbate the difficulties for those who are born under the impenetrable glass ceiling that prevents them from making their way in the spheres of power, for reduce the problem to the liberal spectrum. Although this fact could open the door to other more radical efforts, the overlapping of feminist objectives with the commercial agenda of patriarchal individualist liberalism is impossible.