Beyond borders, beyond blueprints: How Global Majority feminists are weaving our future

As we approach the close of 2025, one truth echoes from the streets of Nairobi to the plazas of Bogotá and the marches of Karachi: the most potent force for justice, however fragile and under threat, is being woven from the ground up, through the threads of our own solidarity. Feminist movements of the Global Majority are not waiting for permission or blueprints from the so-called ‘centres’ of power. Instead, they are building a present, and a future, from their own lived experiences, cultural wisdom and deep-rooted connections to community and land.

Rather than a single monolith, this movement is a vibrant, deliberate tapestry of strategies, what thinker Minna Salami frames as multiple, overlapping “strands” of feminism [4]. These strands are united by a shared commitment to intersectional struggle: a fight against interlocking systems of patriarchy, economic violence, state repression and colonial legacies [1]. From this shared ground, a powerful new technology for liberation is emerging: South-to-South solidarity. This is not just an act of support; it is a strategic framework for co-creating power, a direct challenge to systems that thrive on dividing and isolating our struggles.

Latin America’s green tide redefines security from the body outwards

Perhaps the most visible manifestation of this transnational power is Latin America’s Marea Verde (Green Tide). What began as a fight for abortion rights in Argentina has swelled into a region-wide redefinition of human security itself [5, 8]. By taking over public squares with their iconic green handkerchiefs, feminists successfully reframed reproductive autonomy and an end to femicide not as niche “women’s issues,” but as fundamental prerequisites for a safe and democratic society [8].

This is solidarity in action with measurable results. Victories in one country became catalysts for the next: Argentina’s 2020 legalisation inspired Colombia’s landmark 2022 ruling and Mexico’s 2023 decriminalisation, demonstrating a “domino effect” of feminist courage [5, 8]. The movement’s impact is quantifiable. In Colombia, the Constitutional Court’s 2022 decision to decriminalise abortion up to 24 weeks was a direct outcome of sustained feminist litigation and mass mobilisation. In 2025, this defiant spirit continued as thousands in Buenos Aires marched against austerity measures dismantling gender ministries. Simultaneously, in Colombia, feminists flooded the streets of Bogotá, Cali, and Medellín to protest a shocking surge in femicides, with reports indicating at least 79 women killed in just the first two months of the year. Their rallying cry places care and bodily integrity at the very heart of what it means to be secure, challenging militarised and state-centric models of power on a continental scale.

Africa’s intergenerational revolt: from digital streets to political seats

Across Africa, feminist movements are demonstrating an ability to bridge the digital and the physical, the urgent protest and the long-term institutional fight. In Nigeria, the Feminist Coalition (FemCo) exemplified this during the 2020 #EndSARS protests, providing critical legal, medical, and logistical support that proved feminist organising serves the entire society’s fight for justice [2]. This legacy of pragmatic solidarity continues to evolve. In 2025, Nigerian feminist collectives have been navigating complex challenges, including donor dependency and political co-option, while persistently organising against severe economic precarity and state violence, proving the movement’s resilience beyond a single campaign [15].

In Kenya, a powerful, digitally-savvy wave of young feminists placed femicide squarely on the national agenda. Following the killings of at least 97 women in just three months in late 2024, activists organised massive demonstrations, pressuring President William Ruto to finally acknowledge the crisis [2]. This energy flowed directly into 2025, with women maintaining visible leadership in the broader “Gen-Z” pro-democracy protests that began in mid-2024. These young women, leveraging social media for coordination and crowdfunding, have entrenched female visibility in national discourse on governance [16]. Meanwhile, legislative victories like Ghana’s 2024 Affirmative Action Act show the fruits of decades-long feminist lobbying, creating mandatory pathways for women in public decision-making and setting a new standard for the continent [2]. These concurrent strands of immediate, crowd-sourced street action and persistent legal reform show a movement maturing in real time, mastering both confrontation and institution-building.

South Asia’s audacious reclamation of space, narrative, and cross-border alliances

In Pakistan, the Aurat March represents a model in reclaiming space, both physical and narrative. Since its inception in 2018, it has grown from a bold gathering into a sophisticated grassroots force that centres the most marginalised, including rural Sindhi women and religious minorities [7, 9]. Facing state obstruction, legal battles, and violent backlash, the movement has adapted with remarkable resilience. In 2025, it strategically scheduled marches across different cities and dates to ensure participation. The Lahore march was held early to avoid Ramadan, Islamabad’s proceeded on 8 March, focusing on economic justice, and Karachi’s was planned for Mother’s Day in May [10]. This tactical intelligence, born of necessity, ensures the message persists despite official obstruction.

Critically, this work is understood within a regional, South Asian context. Feminist collectives from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka are increasingly convening to strategise against the common threats of rising authoritarianism and religious fundamentalism [6]. They recognise, as activist Bushra Khaliq notes, that the nexus of “capitalism, authoritarianism, and fundamentalism is lethal, especially for women” [6]. Their solidarity is a conscious effort to build a shared analysis and a common front. For instance, feminists across these nations have coordinated responses to the crisis in Afghanistan, shared strategies for protecting digital rights under repressive governments, and created joint platforms to advocate for women workers. This proves that national borders cannot contain the fight for liberation, and that shared geopolitical realities create a foundation for powerful, practical alliances.

The infrastructure of our liberation: why South-to-South solidarity is our most sophisticated tool

These examples are not isolated triumphs. They are interconnected nodes in a growing network of Global Majority feminist power. This network represents what organiser Shereen Essof has called “our most sophisticated technology” against rising global authoritarianism [3]. It is a technology being actively built and upgraded through shared analysis, strategic exchange, transnational campaigns and the fusion of struggles like climate and gender justice.

As we look to 2026, the path is clear. The future of feminist transformation depends on deepening these South-to-South commitments. It requires investing directly in the knowledge networks, communication channels, and care infrastructures that these movements themselves are building. It means amplifying their stories not as inspiration for others, but as strategic blueprints for our collective liberation.

The feminists of the Global Majority are not just fighting for a seat at a table they did not build. They are constructing entirely new spaces rooted in community, joy and an unshakeable belief in a different world. They are showing us that solidarity is more than a principle; it is a practical, powerful and proven method for winning. Our task is to listen, to learn, and to link our struggles to theirs. In their defiant marches, their protective circles, and their bold visions, the blueprint for our free future is already being drawn, tested, and lived.

References

• Noor, S. A. (2024). Reshaping Global South Feminism in International Relations. The Roads Initiative.
• Chebbi, A. (2025). African women on the rise. D+C Development and Cooperation.
  Just Associates (JASS). (2020). Dialogue 7: Is Global South Feminism the antidote to rising authoritarianism?.
• Salami, M. (2025). A Historical Overview of African Feminist Strands. House of African Feminisms.
• Ford Foundation. (2023). How Civic Space Helped Latin America’s Feminists Achieve Historic Wins.
• Khaliq, B. (2022). Feminist Struggles Against Fundamentalism in South Asia. Capire.
• The Conversationalist. (2019). Pakistan’s feminist revolution: the second generation.
• Wörne, S. (2025). The Marea Verde: How Latin American Women Have Changed the Definition of Security. The Security Distillery.
• Bard Berlin. (2024). A happy woman… is a lucky woman: State of the feminist movement in Pakistan.
• Global Voices. (2025). Aurat March and honouring women’s struggle in Pakistan.
• Africa Is a Country. (2025). What’s left of Nigeria’s feminist left?.
• NomadIT. (2025). The place of women protestors in the ‘Gen-Z’ protests (Kenya). DSA2025 Conference Paper.