Global norms and heterogeneous development organizations: Introduction to special issue on New Actors, Old Donors and Gender Equality Norms in International Development Cooperation

Contemporary development cooperation is characterised by an increasing tension between a growing diversity of actors and significant attempts at homogenising development practices through global norms prescribing ‘good development’. This special issue shows empirically how diverse development organisations engage with global norms on gender equality. To understand this diversity of norm-engagement conceptually, this introductory article proposes four explanatory dimensions: (i) organisational history, culture and structures; (ii) actor strategies, emotions and relationships; (iii) organisational pressures and priorities; and (iv) the normative environment and stakeholders. We argue that, while development organisations cannot avoid addressing global norms regarding gender equality, they do so in considerably divergent ways. However, the differences are explained less by whether these organisations constitute ‘new’ or ‘old’ donors than by the four identified dimensions.