Holding up Half the Sky, But for Whose Benefit?: A Critical Analysis of the Fourth World Conference on Women

Part 1 of this article examines the content of the formal outcomes of the 1994 Fourth World Conference on Women, specifically The Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action (PFA). Part 2 critiques these outcomes around the three official themes of the Conference - equality, development and peace - arguing that the language of equality dominated and operated to prevent transformative outcomes. The author argues that this approach means that women remain marginalized with respect to development and peace locally and globally and allows Eurpean masculinist and capitalist assumptions to retain their grip on women's lives.