Business luncheons

Sponsored by Politics, Groups and Identities.

Business luncheons will take place on Friday 12 June from 1300-1400, and will run in parallel to provide the opportunity to gather gender and politics scholars and brainstorm over common research interests, future collaborative research projects, data collection and dataset sharing.

Registration is required by 15 May. To register your interest, contact the organisers of the business luncheons directly (see below for their contact details)

Introducing Feminist and Institutional Perspectives
Post-Structural Theorising, Feminist Analysis and Critical Policy Studies: Conversations and Collaborations
Hard Times for Editing Feminist Journals and Book Series?
Impact of the Crisis on Social Rights, Public Policy and Citizenship
Measuring Women’s Impact in Political Processes

Introducing Feminist and Institutional Perspectives - Gamla torget, Room 475

Interested in Feminist Institutionalism? Or simply curious to know more about this approach – which combines insights from feminist analysis and institutionalist theory – to understand and explain the dynamics of gendered power inequalities in public and political life? Come join us at the FIIN business lunch as part of ECPG 2015 at Uppsala! FIIN (the Feminism and Institutionalism International Network) invites expressions of interest from FIIN members and from the wider gender and politics community – particularly early career researchers.

Aims of the Session:

To provide opportunity for FIIN members attending ECPG to take stock, brainstorm, and refine ideas for possible future joint projects
To reach out to the wider gender and politics community to introduce FI, and explore common interests
To plan the 10th anniversary of FIIN in 2016/17
To introduce a new Rowman femina-politica.de_& Littlefield International book series Feminist and Institutionalist Perspectives (co-edited by Fiona Mackay, Elin Bjarngard and Meryl Kenny) and identify potential contributors/ projects.

Organisers: Fiona Mackay (Edinburgh); Meryl Kenny (Leicester); Louise Chappell (UNSW); Georgina Waylen (Manchester); Mona Lena Krook (Rutgers); Elin Bjarngard (Uppsala). Cick here for more information on FIIN.

To apply: Email Fiona Mackay and tell us why you want to attend (300 word max) by 15 May 2015

Post-Structural Theorising, Feminist Analysis and Critical Policy Studies: Conversations and Collaborations - Gamla torget, Room 476

Are you pursing research that draws on both post-structural theory and feminist analysis, or are you considering this as a possibility? If so, we invite you to attend this luncheon! The field of critical policy studies is being enriched by work that mobilises the conceptual tools offered by post-structural theorising such as governmentality, biopolitics, assemblage and problematisation. Post-structural approaches to research share with feminist analysis a broad understanding of politics and power as complex, multi-faceted and exercised within and across diverse sites; however, they often refuse the social justice commitments that inform feminist scholarship and/or work with different understandings of political agency and resistive practices. Although there is a growing body of research located at the intersection of these two approaches to critical policy studies, there are as yet few easily identifiable places or events where interested scholars can connect with one another. The purpose of the luncheon is to create a space that will facilitate a more fluid and sustained conversation among participants than is usually possible during conference panels. We hope you will join us to share information about your research/writing projects and plans, and to discuss potential future collaborations.

Organisers: Malin Rönnblom and Kathy Teghtsoonian

To apply: Email Kathy Teghtsoonian by 15 May 2015

Hard Times for Editing Feminist Journals and Book Series? - Gamla torget, Room 477

Publishing a feminist journal has always been a challenge. In the beginnings the aim was not only to create a new forum for all academic and political active women who work in the field of gender studies and who have been underrepresented in other journals but also to give publicity to ideas beyond the male-stream of political science. These original motivations have been obviously successful regarding the present variety of journals dealing with gender aspects and/or providing feminist critique. Everything is fine? In the face of financial cuts, gender backlash and insecure academic careers one might have second thoughts.

The luncheon is open for everybody who is interested in editorial work or who wants to get to know the people behind the journals. Together with editors from different feminist journals of political science and gender studies we will discuss relevant themes, such as perspectives for further developing editorial work, including Peer Review systems or Open Access. Other challenges include public debates on anti-feminism and gender backlash.

The luncheon is organised by the German journal Femina Politica – Journal for Feminist Political Sciences . Please register with the conveners, including a brief note on your motivation.

Organisers: Gesine Fuchs and Alexandra Scheele

To apply: Email Alexandra Scheele, including a brief note on your motivation, by 15 May 2015. The number of participants is limited to 20.

Impact of the Crisis on Social Rights, Public Policy and Citizenship - Gamla torget, Room Svedelius

Aims of the Session:

To explain the Spanish research project “Economic crisis and future of the Welfare State. Social rights and impact on public policies, public services citizenship (ARMELA + VULNERA)” led by the Universities of Santiago de Compostela and Deusto. This research has been funded by the Spanish government - Spanish Ministry of Economy and Finance. The gender perspective is a cornerstone of this project and the priority aim is to analyse the impact of the economic crisis on women (feminisation of social vulnerability and resilience) and equality policies
Looking for partners – Universities and/or researchers – to design an international comparative project and to participate in two European calls: 'Reversing inequalities and promoting fairness' and/or 'Understanding Europe - promoting the European public and cultural space'.

Target audience: Researchers interested in participating in this project from their countries with the aim to carry out a comparative analysis in the framework of a European call. In the business luncheon the Spanish project and also the two European calls (currently drafts) will be presented.

Organisers: Alba Alonso, Arantxa Elizondo and Maria Silvestre

To apply: Email Alba Alonso by 15 May 2015.

Measuring Women’s Impact in Political Processes - Gamla torget, Datorsalen

As a generalisation, women are not proportionally represented in politics. Many advocates for increased participation of women suggest that women bring different perspectives to policy-making in relation to men. However, these arguments - whether from existentialist or socialization perspectives – are contested.

With this working business luncheon we would like to invite you to a discussion that problematises the impact of women’s participation in political processes, focusing on methodological challenges in research. This lunch aims to discuss:

How different researchers measure or assess the impact of womens' participation, both in formal and in informal political spheres, and
If there are better ways of assessing this impact?

If you are interested in assessment exercises, methodology or impact evaluation – qualitative, quantitative and mixed methodologies – and would like to participate in this luncheon, we look forward to your registration.

Organisers: Rachel Irwin and Emma Bjertén-Günther

To apply: Email Emma Bjertén-Günther by 19 May 2015.