FEATURED PANEL: Gender and Diversity in Political Science. Sponsored by IPSA

Abstract

To mark the 2018 release of the third Gender and Diversity Monitoring Report of the International Political Science Association, this panel reflects on contemporary issues relating to gender and diversity in the discipline of political science from both an international and comparative perspective. The twentieth century saw the advent of the formal organization of the discipline into professional associations, as well as the rise of new social movements such as those promoting gender and racial equality and Indigenous rights. Political science was sometimes slow to engage with these new political actors and with issues of inequality more generally. Today many questions and challenges remain. To what extent is the discipline of political science, including its professional associations, inclusive and representative in terms of focus and composition? What practices have professional associations or other institutions of political science adopted to foster diversity, and what lessons can be learned from these? Is the discipline accommodating diverse perspectives and approaches or is there still a hierarchy of knowledge favouring particular Global North frameworks and preoccupations? This panel, comprising the authors of IPSA’s 2018 Gender and Diversity Monitoring Report, and leading experts, reflect on these questions from national and global perspectives.