Politics, Feminism and the Reformation of Gender

by Chapman,Jennifer

• ISBN13: 9780415016988
• ISBN10: 0415016983
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1992-10-22
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

A universal pattern of gender imbalance exists in the recruitment of women to elite political positions. Yet the reasons for this imbalance have not been fully explored. Politics, Feminism and the Reformation of Genderconsiders the participation and representation of women in politics, using empirical data drawn from 300 in-depth interviews. Research carried out in Scotland is used as a basis for comparison with the more extensive research available in American literature. The experience of women in the former Soviet Union and in Finland, Iceland, Norway and Germany is also analyzed. Jennifer Chapman combines empirical and theoretical work to argue that the distinct attributes of women do not constitute advantages in terms of recruitment in a male-dominated political world. She explores the extent to which the orientation of women to politics differs from that of men, and discusses the effects of feminism and of recent changes in women's social conditions on theresources, motivations and prospects of young women now entering the political realm.

Table of Contents

List of figures and tables
Preface and acknowledgments
Introduction
Gender and Recruitment: The Nature of the Problem	p. 3
Major Parties and Recruitment: The USA, Scotland and the USSR	p. 29
Changing the Selectors: Non-Partisan Recruitment	p. 73
Minor Parties and the Gender Pattern	p. 109
The Rise of Feminism and the Parameters of Change	p. 131
Equal Rights and Socialist Feminism	p. 138
Feminism in Practice: Nationalist Finland and Revolutionary Russia	p. 162
Gender Theory and Feminist Strategy	p. 194
West German Greens, Norwegian Feminists and the Icelandic Kwennalistinn	p. 230
Conclusion	p. 267
Notes	p. 270
Bibliography	p. 301
Index	p. 309
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