The Continuity of Transnational Solidarities in the World March of Women, 2000 and 2005: A Collective Identity-Building Approach

While the emergence of transnational social movements has been intensively studied, the continuity of sustained transnational mobilizations has received much less attention. Building on recent research in the field of transnational activism, we examine the case of the World March of Women (WMW), a mobilization of 6,000 associations, unions, and political parties in 163 countries that organized global mobilizations in 2000 and 2005. We argue that the process leading to the 2005 actions constitutes a "collective identity moment" for the WMW. Using semistructured qualitative interviews with leaders of the WMW and detailed case analyses, we demonstrate that this moment was manifested by three dimensions: a change of the activists' main global interlocutor; the use of the transnationalization process as an end in itsel—and not simply as a tool or a mobilization strategy;and the redirection of activists' energy into establishing collective unity as opposed to making direct external gains. This identity moment is the result of a dual process involving the articulation of past mobilizations with new perspectives and the continuing articulation of multiple activist identities.