Feminism

What is its:

1. Ontology

2. Epistemology

3. Methodology

1. Anti-foundationalist

2. Positivist

3. Quantitative

What other theory does it have parallels with?

Marxism

What is the main focus on feminism?

• Taking gender & discrimination against women seriously

• Social dominance through gender-based constructs

  • How is shapes politics

  • How these power-relations are normalised through ideological & cultural means

Define feminism

Feminism is a social & political movement and theory that seeks to address (corrective) & challenge (transformative) gender inequalities

A theoretical approach that aims to recognise and understand, and change and transform gender power relations

• Women’s unequal positions in society

What does the theoretical approach of feminism aim to do?

• To broaden the narrow ‘arena’ focus on public politics and the men in office

• Respond to the focus on observable behaviour and ‘value free’ science

  • Rejection of the confinement to observable behaviour & the need to explore power structures

• Be corrective & transformative

• Empirical & normative political science approach

Explain the effect of male dominated political arenas

Men used to dominate political arenas so there was no place for women = flaws in research & results (e.g. emergence of democracy)

Define value free science

The belief that scientific inquiry should remain objective & value free from personal or political values. Researchers should separate facts from normative judgements so their findings are reliable & unbiased.

What are the 3 waves of feminism?

• 1rst Wave = Constitutional rights (formal equity)

  • Struggle for women to be able to vote & run for offices & have full participation in political life

• 2nd Wave = Substantive equality

  • Reproductive rights, work, family, domestic violence, equal pay

• 3rd Wave = Individual expression, transgender, intersectionality

  • Have different identities that intersect, we are being attached to certain gender structures that can create constraints)

  • There aren’t 2 separate genders

What is suggested instead of the term feminism?

Feminisms = Highlighting the fact that there are diverse experiences & theoretical perspectives (but with a common agenda for change)

What does feminism advocate for a difference of?

Gender vs. sex

Define gender

Gender as a social construct where certain characteristics and expectations are assigned to different people which shape their access to resources, rights, responsibilities & life changes.

• A pattern in our social arrangements, and the everyday activities shaped by those arrangements

• In feminism is seen as a primary way of signifying relationships of power

Define sex

Sex is a biological category given on birth

What are the main themes of feminism in political science?

• Political representation

  • Descriptive & substantive representation of women

  • Drivers & effects of women’s representation across different contexts

• Feminism in political analysis

  • Women in political parties, how they are elected, formal & informal rules about women running for elections

• Gendering the state & state feminism

  • Reproduction & correction of gender biases in the state & by the state

  • What drives this & what are the effects

Explain feminism in other fields

• inequalities between women in the Global South compared to the Global North

• varying experiences & roles of women based on their race, geographical context, ethnicity

• Masculinity

• Focus away from aggregate society & towards individuals (women)

Outline the diverse scientific & methodological approaches

• Feminist institutionalism (mostly normative or historical)

  • understanding norms in certain formal/informal contexts

• Constructivism

  • how genders are constructed & how different contexts in IR affect different individuals

• Positivism research

  • Empirical, objective & value free research

  • Interpretivist = fluid meanings