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W4 - Women's Movements and Political Parties. (Women's Movements.,…
W4 - Women's Movements and Political Parties.
Women's Movements.
Women's Suffrage and Movements.
NO DEFINITION AGREEMENT.
Movements are
diverse
: from right-wing or anti-feminist movements (e- traditional gender roles in society) as well as progressive, left-wing, or feminist women’s movements (e- gender pay gap (Beckwith, 2010).
Women’s movements appeal to
maternal
(essentialist-traditionalist),
equality
(feminist) or feminine/expressive frames (recasting gender stereotypes), or they may combine these frames into hybrid messages (Goss and Heaney 2010).
Citizenship is historically gendered (Pateman), yet 20th century saw international norm of gender-neutral citizenship. 1893-1994 - 96% of countries acquired right to vote.
New Zealand first in world (1893); Finland first in Europe (1906).
Portugal ('74) authoritarian state that democratised and push for new rights saw female citizenship. Switzerland ('71) suffrage rejected in '59; feminism wave in 60s in Switzerland.
Feminist Movements.
Feminist movements are distinguished by their challenge of patriarchy. They share a gendered power analysis of women’s subordination and contest political, social and other power arrangements of domination and subordination on the basis of gender (Beckwith, 2010; p.29).
Feminist movements have been more successful in pursuing policy goals through socialist, communist, social democratic, and labour parties than through other types of parties
There is a debate concerning the utility of an ‘inside’ strategy of working within institutions and of the value of an autonomous ‘outside’ position independent of political institutions. ‘Inside’ is more liberal feminism and ‘outside’ is more radical feminism.
First Wave = Suffrage. Second Wave: liberalising rights (women at home/abortion/divorce). Third Wave: equal opportunities in public and private spheres (Pay Gap / domestic violence / harassment).
State Feminism.
• State feminism refers to ‘activities of government structures that are formally charged with furthering women’s status and rights’ (Stetson&Mazur 2010: 319). Started as feminist movements put more pressure on political parties and institutions demanding more access to power. In response, government women’s agencies were formed – ministries, departments, units, agencies working for government.
Are female agencies effective? Type of agency/state feminism; state-society relations; formal and informal institutions.
• Does state feminism exist in the context of the ‘conservative turn’? Traditionally, parties of the left supported the left. But as the right were dominant in the 60s, how can we evaluate state feminism? If these state agencies exist, we must identify their powers and how their influence; but also whether or not movements actually have an input on these agencies which creates feminist policy.
Debates Within Feminist Movements.
To engage or not engage with state actors (Kantola/Young) - • State feminism – government established agencies that deal specifically with women’s issues. Also, non-government social movements and organisations that’re feminist influence government and subsequently actors and subsequently policy. Would be a feminist agenda; idea on promoting women’s rights and gender equality.
Mobilize separately or in coalition with other actors (Beckwith; Molyneux). - Political parties, other movements and political actors.
Emphasise sex and gender over other identities (Goetz and Hassim) - Intersectionality – some would say emphasis on intersectionality is diluting idea of gender equality; others would say that to understand inequalities we must examine those based on all factors.
Impact
.
Feminist impact: equal political rights and citizenship; state feminism.
Feminist or Conservative impact: women's parties / political awareness of women's interests; public policy.
Women's Political Parties.
Explanations.
• ‘Women’s parties are autonomous organizations of or for women that run candidates for elected office. What makes them women’s parties is the explicit agenda to advance the volume and range of women’s voices in politics. In other words, a women’s party is an organ designed specifically and primarily to increase women’s representation in politics’ (Cowell-Meyers 2016; 4)
• In her paper, Cowell-Meyers (2016) presents the study of 30 women’s parties that emerged in 20 countries in Europe in the period from 1987 to 2007. Electorally, these parties weren’t important as they weren’t mainstream. Why weren’t they electorally successful? Four hypothesis: 1) economic empowerment – if women have access to employment and they’re well educated, they’d have a will to exist in politics. 2) if women are underrepresented in institutions and established parties then a new one can grow. 3) PR systems are more diverse, majoritarian systems aren’t (ie. FPTP). 4) district magnitude: more seats available give a greater opportunity for women to break through; and PR systems create multi-party systems allowing greater competition to grow. 5) women’s parties are established in the context of new political systems, ideally post-democratic transition.
Examples.
Women's List - Iceland.Birthed in '81 following '75 female-only strike against gender pay gap; 2 representatives in '82 (inside/out debate with out winning) to 6 in '87; impact on party political culture bringing in women; raising awareness and protest.
Feminist Initiative - Sweden. Radical/Outside; 2005 formed; 2014 EU elections brought first feminist to EUP; w/4% threshold for seats, only 3.1% in '14.
Eastern Europe - Female Conservatism. [Cowell-Meyers] WEU countries feminist; EEU not (National Party for Hungarian Mothers]; most feminist parties are extra-parliamentary.
Their Rise.
• Women’s parties are more likely where women are empowered economically (i.e., women’s participation in the labour force and education levels are high).
• Women’s parties are more likely where women are disempowered or underrepresented by mainstream political parties and processes
• Women’s parties are more likely where (a) district magnitude is high, (b) the total number of seats is high, (c) systems use PR (as opposed to majoritarian systems) electoral rules, and (d) many parties are present in the system.
Women’s parties are more likely where political institutions and electoral laws are new