PIR3211: Gender and Politics

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF AIMS AND CONTENT

This module seeks to introduce students to broad topics in gender and politics, and it is divided into three analytical Units. In the first unit, we will explore gender as a critical analytical category and discuss its significance within politics. The module will also identify and theorize gender inequalities worldwide, and will deal with the questions of why these inequalities prevail and how they can politically be addressed. The second unit will focus on the engagement of women’s movements with formal and informal politics in historical and contemporary contexts. We shall debate the nature and modes of women’s and men’s participation and representation in formal electoral systems, civil society, nationalist movements, revolutions, and in processes of democratization. In the third unit, we will discuss the transformative potential of feminist politics in local and transnational contexts. Drawing on gender and feminist theory, on comparative politics as well as International Relations approaches, it aims at discussing political instruments and strategies to advance gender equality as well as the governance mechanisms that have contributed to the diffusion of respective policy measures globally. The module will draw on case studies from different regions and compare similarities and differences across cases and will allow students to draw lessons learned from selected case studies.