GENDER, DIVERSITY AND POLITICS
PROF. KAREN CELIS
1
,INHOUD
1. The democratic promise: equality and freedom .........................................................................3
1. Disability & Political representation ..........................................................................................6
3. Recruitment, election and representation ............................................................................... 11
3.1. Barrier one ........................................................................................................................ 12
3.2. Barrier two ........................................................................................................................ 14
3.3. Barrier three ...................................................................................................................... 15
4. Representation and diversity .................................................................................................. 16
4.1. Political narratives ............................................................................................................ 17
4.2. Media representations....................................................................................................... 18
4.3. Gendered institutions ........................................................................................................ 18
4.4. Unequal political lifecycles ................................................................................................ 19
4.5. Conclusions ..................................................................................................................... 20
5. Ideologies and far right gender politics .................................................................................... 21
5.1. Key postulates of discourse theory ..................................................................................... 21
5.2. A discursive-theoretical approach to gender ....................................................................... 22
6. Feminist responses to anti-gender politics in the European parliament; gender and violence
against politicians .............................................................................................................................. 29
6.1. Violence against women in politics..................................................................................... 29
6.1.1. Concept: VAWIP ........................................................................................................... 29
6.1.2. Gendered motives......................................................................................................... 29
6.1.3. Gendered forms ............................................................................................................ 30
6.1.4. Intersectionality ............................................................................................................ 31
6.1.5. Gendered impact .......................................................................................................... 31
6.1.6. Solutions ...................................................................................................................... 32
6.2. Gender equality policy, anti-gender politics and feminist responses in the European
parliament ..................................................................................................................................... 33
6.2.1. Introduction to the European parliament ........................................................................ 33
6.2.2. Gender equality in the EP ............................................................................................... 34
6.2.3. Opposition to gender equality ........................................................................................ 35
6.2.4. Anti-gender politics in the EP ......................................................................................... 37
6.2.5. Feminist institutional responses .................................................................................... 38
7. Backlash and masculinity ...................................................................................................... 40
7.1. Masculinity & sexuality in Dutch populist radical right leadership ......................................... 40
7.2. Masculinities for the future of European democracy ............................................................ 42
8. Representation deficits & solutions ........................................................................................ 43
9. power struggles for gender/intersectional equality .................................................................. 51
10. Powerstruggles against gender/intersectional equality ............................................................ 58
2
, 1. THE DEMOCRATIC PROMISE: EQUALITY A ND FREEDOM
Democracy starts with the promise that we are all equal and free
→ Everyone should be equal and free to become a politician
→ In reality: equality is not realised
The promise: equality and freedom
- If women and men are equal and free:
• Why, then, are women underrepresented?
• Why, then, are women now better represented?
- The ‘democratic’ answer:
• Ambition
• Merit
- What the research on women in politics learn us:
• It is not (only) about personal ambition; structural factors matter greatly
• Ambition and merit are gendered, and mediated by networks
- Inequality is completely in line with democracy when the reason is lack of ambition and merit →
some people have more quality to hold political power than others → why women are
underrepresented (they have less ambition + in a democracy one shouldn’t force someone to
become a politician
- If women don’t want to develop their capacity → it’s their choice and in line with the democratic
promise of equality
- But: science and research tells us another story → this inequality is not only due to individual
choices or capacities, it is structural
- Inequality is generated by structures in society, how politics are organized
- If there is now more equality, its because these structures have been changed (so not just
individual)
Is the democratic promise fulfilled?
- Research on when women run for office
- 3 concepts: ambition, merit, networks
When do women run for office?
- If everything was ok → when they wish
- Research shows: a lot of structural factors play a role
- Conditions related to elections and parties
• Party competition
• Party ideology
• Party organisation
- Formal rules
1. Party competition
- When there is a political scandal and they face major electoral failure → they move women
forward for elections
→ Phenomenon = the ‘glass cliff’
- Contagion
• When one party has women on the list, the others follow along to being the most women-
friendly
➔ Undemocratic practices
2. Party ideology
- Left more women candidates, elected and party elites
- Historical connection between leftist parties and women’s movement
- But right-wing parties are catching up
➔ This has nothing to do with individual merit again
3. Party organisation
3
, - Centralisation (but only when party leaders believe in women’s qualities and the principle of
gender quality)
• If the party elite is convinced that it should be gender equal → it has the power to actually do
it
• At local levels its much harder to push through this centre policy
• You can make political party’s more inclusive but you have to reorganise them so that de
power is more central instead of only the party elite
- Women party leaders and selectors
• When you have women in the group of selectors → invisible power → women have an easier
way into places on electoral lists
• This is because of networks
• “You cannot be what you cannot see”
- Women sections within parties
• Functions
o In the past: serve coffee
o Mobilize female electorate
o Intra party decision-making
• Effects
o Effective in promoting women for office and quota
o Channel for voicing women’s demands
o Group consciousness as resource for campaigns addressing party leaders
When do women run for office= rules
- The more formal the better for newcomers (women, ethnic minorities,…)
• Informal rules are the enemy of inclusion
- Quota and reserved seats
!! Networks !!
- Important to understand why inequality exists in democracy
- Networks =
Networks are extremely important in unsafe situations, risky context (for example politics)
- They create bubbles
- You want to be with people that think like you,.. because they’re predictable
- There is political power for historical reasons in these networks
- You have to look like those in power to have access to these networks, cuz if you don’t you aren’t
perceived as safe to include
- There is political capital in those networks of the powerful
- Networks are there because people want security and safety
Homosocial capital
- Networks of individuals who share norms, values and perceptions, and therefore are perceived
as trustworthy and predictable
- Instrumental side: access to resources = capital that is mobilized in politics, information about &
support for political mandates amongst others
- White privileged men historically dominate these networks → they benefit more strongly from
these networks (but also the underrepresented groups do)
- These networks do not intend to exclude (no conspiracy) but do generate and maintain exclusion
Ambition: what motivates women (more than men) to run?
- Direct recruitment
- Encouragement
- Exposure to women office-holders
- Organisations and programmes committed to women’s recruitment and training
- Sense of ‘usefulness of politics to solve problems’
• Women need more convincing of the usefulness, for men the bar is lower, women need proof
that they can actually achieve something because women have less time for politics
4
PROF. KAREN CELIS
1
,INHOUD
1. The democratic promise: equality and freedom .........................................................................3
1. Disability & Political representation ..........................................................................................6
3. Recruitment, election and representation ............................................................................... 11
3.1. Barrier one ........................................................................................................................ 12
3.2. Barrier two ........................................................................................................................ 14
3.3. Barrier three ...................................................................................................................... 15
4. Representation and diversity .................................................................................................. 16
4.1. Political narratives ............................................................................................................ 17
4.2. Media representations....................................................................................................... 18
4.3. Gendered institutions ........................................................................................................ 18
4.4. Unequal political lifecycles ................................................................................................ 19
4.5. Conclusions ..................................................................................................................... 20
5. Ideologies and far right gender politics .................................................................................... 21
5.1. Key postulates of discourse theory ..................................................................................... 21
5.2. A discursive-theoretical approach to gender ....................................................................... 22
6. Feminist responses to anti-gender politics in the European parliament; gender and violence
against politicians .............................................................................................................................. 29
6.1. Violence against women in politics..................................................................................... 29
6.1.1. Concept: VAWIP ........................................................................................................... 29
6.1.2. Gendered motives......................................................................................................... 29
6.1.3. Gendered forms ............................................................................................................ 30
6.1.4. Intersectionality ............................................................................................................ 31
6.1.5. Gendered impact .......................................................................................................... 31
6.1.6. Solutions ...................................................................................................................... 32
6.2. Gender equality policy, anti-gender politics and feminist responses in the European
parliament ..................................................................................................................................... 33
6.2.1. Introduction to the European parliament ........................................................................ 33
6.2.2. Gender equality in the EP ............................................................................................... 34
6.2.3. Opposition to gender equality ........................................................................................ 35
6.2.4. Anti-gender politics in the EP ......................................................................................... 37
6.2.5. Feminist institutional responses .................................................................................... 38
7. Backlash and masculinity ...................................................................................................... 40
7.1. Masculinity & sexuality in Dutch populist radical right leadership ......................................... 40
7.2. Masculinities for the future of European democracy ............................................................ 42
8. Representation deficits & solutions ........................................................................................ 43
9. power struggles for gender/intersectional equality .................................................................. 51
10. Powerstruggles against gender/intersectional equality ............................................................ 58
2
, 1. THE DEMOCRATIC PROMISE: EQUALITY A ND FREEDOM
Democracy starts with the promise that we are all equal and free
→ Everyone should be equal and free to become a politician
→ In reality: equality is not realised
The promise: equality and freedom
- If women and men are equal and free:
• Why, then, are women underrepresented?
• Why, then, are women now better represented?
- The ‘democratic’ answer:
• Ambition
• Merit
- What the research on women in politics learn us:
• It is not (only) about personal ambition; structural factors matter greatly
• Ambition and merit are gendered, and mediated by networks
- Inequality is completely in line with democracy when the reason is lack of ambition and merit →
some people have more quality to hold political power than others → why women are
underrepresented (they have less ambition + in a democracy one shouldn’t force someone to
become a politician
- If women don’t want to develop their capacity → it’s their choice and in line with the democratic
promise of equality
- But: science and research tells us another story → this inequality is not only due to individual
choices or capacities, it is structural
- Inequality is generated by structures in society, how politics are organized
- If there is now more equality, its because these structures have been changed (so not just
individual)
Is the democratic promise fulfilled?
- Research on when women run for office
- 3 concepts: ambition, merit, networks
When do women run for office?
- If everything was ok → when they wish
- Research shows: a lot of structural factors play a role
- Conditions related to elections and parties
• Party competition
• Party ideology
• Party organisation
- Formal rules
1. Party competition
- When there is a political scandal and they face major electoral failure → they move women
forward for elections
→ Phenomenon = the ‘glass cliff’
- Contagion
• When one party has women on the list, the others follow along to being the most women-
friendly
➔ Undemocratic practices
2. Party ideology
- Left more women candidates, elected and party elites
- Historical connection between leftist parties and women’s movement
- But right-wing parties are catching up
➔ This has nothing to do with individual merit again
3. Party organisation
3
, - Centralisation (but only when party leaders believe in women’s qualities and the principle of
gender quality)
• If the party elite is convinced that it should be gender equal → it has the power to actually do
it
• At local levels its much harder to push through this centre policy
• You can make political party’s more inclusive but you have to reorganise them so that de
power is more central instead of only the party elite
- Women party leaders and selectors
• When you have women in the group of selectors → invisible power → women have an easier
way into places on electoral lists
• This is because of networks
• “You cannot be what you cannot see”
- Women sections within parties
• Functions
o In the past: serve coffee
o Mobilize female electorate
o Intra party decision-making
• Effects
o Effective in promoting women for office and quota
o Channel for voicing women’s demands
o Group consciousness as resource for campaigns addressing party leaders
When do women run for office= rules
- The more formal the better for newcomers (women, ethnic minorities,…)
• Informal rules are the enemy of inclusion
- Quota and reserved seats
!! Networks !!
- Important to understand why inequality exists in democracy
- Networks =
Networks are extremely important in unsafe situations, risky context (for example politics)
- They create bubbles
- You want to be with people that think like you,.. because they’re predictable
- There is political power for historical reasons in these networks
- You have to look like those in power to have access to these networks, cuz if you don’t you aren’t
perceived as safe to include
- There is political capital in those networks of the powerful
- Networks are there because people want security and safety
Homosocial capital
- Networks of individuals who share norms, values and perceptions, and therefore are perceived
as trustworthy and predictable
- Instrumental side: access to resources = capital that is mobilized in politics, information about &
support for political mandates amongst others
- White privileged men historically dominate these networks → they benefit more strongly from
these networks (but also the underrepresented groups do)
- These networks do not intend to exclude (no conspiracy) but do generate and maintain exclusion
Ambition: what motivates women (more than men) to run?
- Direct recruitment
- Encouragement
- Exposure to women office-holders
- Organisations and programmes committed to women’s recruitment and training
- Sense of ‘usefulness of politics to solve problems’
• Women need more convincing of the usefulness, for men the bar is lower, women need proof
that they can actually achieve something because women have less time for politics
4
