Gender and comparative politics

Abstract

This panel considers questions of gender in politics at a comparative level, enabling the systematic testing of theories across a range of polities and political systems. As such, the papers in this panel contribute both to the literature on gender and politics and to the literature on comparative politics. In the first paper, Alexandra Jonsson discusses her comparative study of the recent evolution of policies regarding the conciliation between family and professional lives in Sweden, France and the United Kingdom. Their recent changes are understood with reference to the European Union and the impact of European policies on gender equality. This classic dilemma for women of balancing the demands of the public and private spheres of existence is then followed by two papers exploring the challenges facing women who make it to the very top of public life. Angela Movileanu attempts to gather the data available regarding the presence of women in cabinets of post-communist CEE countries. Such a ‘map’ would offer an overview on social and political backgrounds of women in ministerial elites of these countries and suggest further research insights. Working in a similar direction, Ekaterina Rashkova looks at the determinants of women in ministerial positions and studies the effect of democratic maturity and electoral institutions on cabinet gender equality in comparative perspective. The final paper looks beyond the boundaries of Europe and considers a case study in India. Tracing the development of debates over personal law and the Uniform Civil Code in modern Indian politics, Jennifer Coleman examines the dynamic nature of secularism as both an ideology and set of institutions, specifically as the concept relates to the instrumental role of gendered language in the construction of Indian citizenship. The papers all provide useful insights into women’s access to the public sphere using a comparative approach, from the most personal level of the family to the formal level of political institutions, and from the theoretical study of citizenship to the empirical study of women’s representation.

Title	Details
Gender politics in a comparative perspective : What différence can the European Union make ? On the conciliation of family life and professional life in France, Sweden and the United Kingdom	View Paper Details
Women in Government? A map of women in CEE post-communist executives	View Paper Details
‘The Sex Problems’: Feminist Struggles for Erotic Autonomy	View Paper Details