Gender equality is not fully realised when it is restricted to ethnic majority men and women. This article examines how gender quotas as a form of equality policy affect ethnic minority groups, in particular, the gender balance among ethnic minority candidates for political office. Our analysis focuses on the selection of ethnic minority candidates in Belgium, where legally binding quotas exist, and in the Netherlands, where they do not. Drawing on 23 interviews with central actors in four main parties in each country, we find that the process of ethnic minority candidate selection is highly gendered: in both countries, ethnic minority women are represented in larger numbers than ethnic minority men. But gender quotas play a lesser role in this than the more general concern for diversity on electoral lists, the institutionalisation of gender/ethnicity within political parties and the strategic choices of party leaders.

The focus on female MPs and leftist and feminist issues in traditional studies of women's substantive representation has supported the overall conclusion that women, feminists and left-wing parties promote women's interests in parliament. But our analysis of the ‘critical actors’ in women's substantive representation in 10 European countries confirms this finding only to a certain extent. Our inductive research design reveals an important group of less obvious actors: non-left, non-feminist and male MPs. That they speak out on behalf of women points to the necessity of revisiting our theories on women's substantive representation.

Resumen. Este artículo revisa críticamente la extensa literatura sobre la representación política de los grupos sociales y destaca las ventajas de la teoría interseccional para estudiar esta cuestión. Se argumenta que el mérito de dicho enfoque puede ser encontrado en su ontología del poder. La teoría interseccional está basada en la concepción relacional del poder político que ubica la constitución de las relaciones de poder en las interacciones sociales, como la representación política. Por ejemplo, la teoría interseccional impulsa el conocimiento que se encuentra como ocurre en la representación política tras del estudio de las desigualdades en la representación (que están conectadas, presumiblemente, a posiciones sociales estables) para, con ello, considerar los medios por los que dicha representación reproduce las posiciones de privilegio y desventaja. Palabras clave: Interseccionalidad, representación política, poder, privilegio, categorías sociales.[en] Power, privilege and disadvantage: Intersectionality theory and political representation Abstract. This article critically reviews the extant literature on social group representation and clarifies the advantages of intersectionality theory for studying political representation. It argues that the merit of intersectionality theory can be found in its ontology of power. Intersectionality theory is founded on a relational conception of political power that locates the constitution of power relations within social interactions, such as political representation. As such, intersectionality theory pushes scholarship beyond studying representation inequalities -that are linked to presumably stable societal positions-to also consider the ways in which political representation (re)creates positions of privilege and disadvantage. Keywords: Intersectionality, political representation, power, privilege, social categories.Sumario. 1. Introducción. 2. Un repaso por la extensa literatura sobre representación del grupo social. 3. Teoría interseccional: ontología del poder. 4. La representación como proceso. hacia un entendimiento del poder, el privilegio y la desventaja. Conclusión. Agradecimientos. Financiación. Referencias bibliográficas. Traducción del artículo de Politics, nº 36 (4): Power, privilege and disadvantage: Intersectionality theory and political representation, pp. 346-354. Agradecemos el permiso para su publicación a la revista original y a las autoras, así como al grupo Parte Hartuz el apoyo financiero para ello. Traducción de Patricia Martínez García con la ayuda de las autoras.

The recent finding that right-wing parties increasingly make efforts to integrate women’s concerns raises questions as to whether ideology still counts as a reliable indicator for women’s substantive representation and how different party contexts shape opportunities for the articulation of women’s interests. This article therefore critically reassesses how ideology defines the opportunities for women’s substantive representation, based on a comparative study of legislators’ acting on behalf of women in 14 European countries. We argue that ideology still offers an important explanation for women’s substantive representation, but that the link between the two should be conceptualized as complex rather than straightforward. The role of ideology is best understood if scholars (1) adopt an understanding of ‘ideology’ that allows for more variation and is conceptually different from ‘party’, (2) differentiate between gendered interests and feminist interests and (3) understand the impact of ideology as both direct and mediated.