Gender and political theory

Abstract

Although it is impossible to conduct any work relating to gender that does not incorporate some element of theory, many studies of gender and politics have become increasingly empirical in nature. However, as these papers demonstrate, there is still an vital role for a gendered understanding of political theory, and a theorised understanding of gender. Indeed, although these papers are united by their theoretical nature, their diversity represents the range of work being conducted in this field. The first paper, by Elena Pollot-Thompson, takes the conference theme and uses it to revisit the feminist debate over the political use of ‘woman’ as a contentious political strategy. She proceeds to explore feminist ethics as a way out of the ‘identity crisis’ in contemporary Anglo-American feminism. Susan Walker then proceeds in the second paper to take a theoretical look at the absence of violence in feminist liberation struggles and asks why this should be the case? In the third paper, Marjolein Paantjens and Meryl Kenny look at the 'promise' of a feminist institutionalism, exploring the ways in which gender, power and change are connected. They contend that it is crucial to understand political institutions as gendered if we want to understand dynamics of change and continuity, revealing how institutions reflect, reinforce and structure gendered power relations. Finally, in the fourth paper, Nicolae Dobrei examines some implications of a feminist perspective on Habermas’s view of deliberative democracy. He argues that while there are strong similarities between the two with respect to concepts like inclusion and democratic participation, gender issues in East European countries may raise a difficult challenge to the deliberative model. The papers highlight a variety of approaches to the rich field of gender and political theory, and demonstrate that the more we understand of this field, the more we realise the necessity of incorporating gender into all attempts to conceptualise the political world.

Title	Details
Why Doesn’t feminism have a Para-military Wing?	View Paper Details
Towards a Feminist Institutionalism: Connecting Gender, Power and Change	View Paper Details
The Deliberative Ideal and the Feminist Challenge. How Inclusive Is Habermas’s Model of Participation?	View Paper Details