Symbolic representation is one of the four dimensions Pitkin distinguishes in her seminal work on the concept of political representation (Pitkin 1967), and the one which has received least attention over the course of the years. In this paper we argue that political scientists, and especially feminist scholars should engage with symbolic representation, since it fulfils a number of crucial functions within political systems that are related to processes of privilege and subordination. We develop our argument taking a discursive approach to symbolic representation, in that symbolic representation not only takes place through a visual construction of agents representing a principal, but also through a discursive one. Based on this double point of departure the paper develops three important functions to be distinguished when it comes to symbolic representation: the construction of social identities, the legitimisation of social groups and their political control.
