Bridging gender, minority status and political participation– insights into conventional forms of political participation

Abstract

The discussions around Kamala Harris becoming the first female, first black and first Asian-American US vice-president highlighted once again the interconnection of gender and ethnicity with political participation. Scholarship shows that overall women participate less in politics then men do, and once gender intersects with ethnicity, the participation gap widens even more. This is even more evident when looking at conventional forms of political participation. Nevertheless, Latina women in the US are amongst the most politically active. Moreover, women belonging to vulnerable ethnic groups have found alternative patterns of political participation, such as International Conferences and Networks, participation in social movements, protests and demonstrations. Yet models to analyze the effect of gender and identity on political participation have failed to meaningfully account for the ways in which the intersections of ethnicity, and gender shape the political behavior of minority women. The panel explores the challenges for political participation of women with diverse minority backgrounds. Hence, the panel argues that the intersectionality of gender and minority status impacts upon means of political participation, but also upon political efficacy. The papers of this panel delve into the challenges faced by Roma women and their ‘triple exclusion’ from political participation, on challenges and patterns of migrant women’s participation in local Italian and Irish politics, and on the effective participation of women belonging to a national minority in Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia. Moreover, the panel discusses the impact of gender and minority status on constitutional debates in Ireland.

Title	Details
Gender, migration and political participation. The case of migrant women in Italy	View Paper Details
National Minority Women’s Political Participation in Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia	View Paper Details
Political exclusion 3 in 1: the case of Roma women in Romania	View Paper Details
Racial and Ethnic Minoritised Women’s access to Local Politics in Ireland: Political Imaginaries and Candidacy	View Paper Details
Bridging gender and constitutional concerns: how participation changes the process and agenda of constitutional debate	View Paper Details