(De)legitimation Strategies in the Media Statements of Women’s Rights Organisations

Abstract

AbstractThis chapter examines the (de)legitimation strategies that women’s movement organisations in Malaysia use to advance their policy and issue demands. Sustained pressure from activists has been important to get the state to implement reforms to improve women’s rights in this country. One of the frequent means by which they delegitimise the decisions and practices of the state and claim legitimacy for their own change agendas is through media statements which are widely published and reported in the mainstream press. This case study explores the strategies employed in English language media statements released by the Joint Action Group for Gender Equality, the Women’s Aid Organisation, and the All Women’s Action Society. More specifically, it focuses on statements pertaining to one of the key areas that the groups advocate, namely women’s right to safe, healthy, and gainful employment. Using frameworks on discursive (de)legitimation and social actor representation, this chapter examines the various ways the organisations frame and assess legislation, policies, and political actions that impact the experiences and livelihood of working women. It distinguishes and analyses four main (de)legitimation strategies used in the press statements, which are (de)legitimation through authorisation, rationalisation, discourses of nation-building and discourses of women as victims. The chapter argues that these devices may be effective in shaping public opinion and gender governance outcomes if they are perceived as representing or promoting national interests but potentially constrained by culturally dominant discourses that marginalise feminist ways of thinking.