Conditions for global solidarities and social movements have changed radically since their high point in the 1990s United Nations conferences. This collection considers how political solidarities are being understood and constructed in a variety of cross-border struggles and for what ends under twenty-first century conditions. In studies grounded in different world regions at a variety of scales, authors address: how the Cold War divide and its aftermath have structured contemporary asymmetries in European LGBT movements and in 'global' feminisms; how 'colonial difference' in Latin America confronts feminist and social justice movements with problems of translation across worlds; how travelling concepts essential to constructing solidarities across distance and difference traverse linguistic divides and attendant power imbalances in world cities and transnational networks; how rurality as a form of colonial difference challenges established categories of intersectional feminism. Feminist politics of power and difference, and attention to gendered agency, are at the centre of this inquiry into the possibility of twenty-first century solidarities across borders.

Scholars of social movements tend to overlook the achievements and political significance of women’s movements. Through theoretical discussions and empirical examples, Solidarities Beyond Borders demonstrates the creativity and dynamism of transnational feminist and women’s groups around the world. These timely case studies from North America, Latin America, and Southeast Asia explore the benefits and challenges of extending ties beyond national borders and disciplinary boundaries. The contributors not only bring to light the opportunities and challenges that globalization poses for transnationalizing women’s movements, they offer important strategic, conceptual, and methodological lessons for all social movements.