New Database Additions  Short Summary Title Changing their World: Concepts and Practices of Women’s Movements Author Batliwala, S. Publication Date November 2008 Publisher The Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID) Summary Source Adapted from the source. Summary At some levels, feminist movements have lost much of the momentum, coherence and impact they seemed to have had even a decade ago, while at others, women are building their collective power in vibrant ways. The Association for Women's Rights in Development's (AWID) Building Feminist Movements and Organisations (BFEMO) initiative undertook a series of 10 case studies during 2007-2008 of strong and vibrant women's/feminist movements from different regions of the world. The aim was to analyse their experiences and understand how they evolved, strategised and made an impact. This paper aims to clarify some key concepts: What is a movement? What is a feminist movement? Why do movements matter? What are the challenges of women's/feminist movements? What is the relationship of organisations and individuals to movements? What are the elements of a movement-building approach? It also presents summaries of the case studies and insights emerging from these examples, particularly considering stories of origin, factors which inhibited the movements, the relationship between movements and organisations, strategies used by the movements, their governance and decision-making structures, and their achievements and influence. One overarching insight emerging from the studies is that these movements were launched by women not essentially around their identity as women, but around their identity as women of particular identities, categories and circumstances - women of certain ethnicities or social groups (Roma women, Dalit women, indigenous women), or women facing particular forms of exclusion (mothers, grassroots women). Another lesson is the importance of defining the “radical” nature of political agendas and activism within the socio-political context in which a movement has evolved, rather than against some absolute ideological standard.