Conclusion

Abstract

This book argued that since the 1990s, norms in general proliferated in a neo-liberalising context, particularly in relation to gender, and examined how they changed to indicate new agency and influence, amounting to game change. It focused on Southern Africa, defined as the socially constructed SADC region made up of 15 member states. The study’s main interest was transnational civil society processes that promote the norm cycle, contributing to greater security across the SADC region. The analytical approach that was grounded in the New Regionalism Approach (NRA) emphasised processes rather than the linearity inherent in regional IR studies. By privileging processes, interactions and agency around the norm development cycle, this study examined how regional thickening in a transnational context facilitated game-changing activities, promoting the development of the norm cycle and contributing to improved security. While regional thickening pointed to increasing regionalisation, regionalism and region-ness, game-changing referred to processes to develop norms, leading to change, development and stabilisation.