Gender and politics research in Europe: towards a consolidation of a flourishing political science subfield?

Abstract

Over the past twenty years, the field of "gender and politics" has flourished in European political science. An example of this is the growing number of "gender and politics" scholars and the increased attention paid to gender perspectives in the study of the political. Against this backdrop, we take stock of how the "gender and politics" field has developed over the years. We argue that the field has now entered a stage of "consolidation", which is reflected in the growth, diversification and professionalization of the subfield, as well as in the increased disciplinary recognition from major gatekeepers in political science. But while consolidation comes with specific opportunities, it also presents some key challenges. We identify five such challenges: (1) the potential fragmentation of the field; (2) persisting hierarchies in knowledge production; (3) the continued marginalization of feminist political analysis in "mainstream" political science; (4) the changing link between academia and society; and (5) growing opposition to gender studies in parts of Europe and beyond. We argue that both the "gender and politics" field and political science in general should address these challenges in order to become a truly inclusive discipline.

Language, gender and political symbolics: Insights from citizen digital discourses on gender‐sensitive language in Serbia

“…The repeated questions of who is to tell me how to talk , remind us of the need for any such motions to interact with society within a stronger conversation on collective interest, as well as to enjoy stronger policy backing in order to live on. Some recent research identifies this as one of the greatest challenges in the field of gender and politics more broadly, especially as the field appears to be taking an opposite direction towards increasing professionalisation and self‐referentiality (Ahrens et al., 2021).…”

“…At the same time, however, they highlight a clearly emerging and much wider ideological currency that these (mis)understandings are taking on in today's rising authoritarian, right‐wing and nationalist discourses, as notions of gender ideology gain a central symbolic point in neo‐nationalist rhetoric (Cameron, 2020; Gal, 2021). Amidst the parallel fragmentation of society, transformation of public discourse brought by digital media and the growing distrust in information and science (Ahrens et al., 2021), language planning debates and their public echo are inescapably being affected in new ways.…”

Primer día de clase: comenzando a andar desde la cooperación, la politización y la visibilización de las desigualdades de género

“…Año 2023 1. INTRODUCCIÓN Este texto se sitúa en la intersección marcada por dos hitos recientes en Ciencia Política: de una parte, la creciente relevancia del género en la investigación politológica (Ahrens et al, 2021;Mügge et al, 2016;Dahlerup, 2010); de otra, la popularización de innovaciones docentes en esta disciplina (Ishiyama, 2013;Goldsmith & Goldsmith, 2010). La combinación de ambos procesos está propiciando, aunque de forma limitada (Atchinson, 2013), la incorporación del género en el proceso de aprendizaje en las aulas de ciencia política (Mazur, 2016;Cassese et al, 2015;Woodcock, 2008) al facilitar la comprensión aplicada aspectos claves de la ciencia política como la politización o las consecuencias de la distribución desigual del poder (Mügge et al, 2016;Atchinson, 2013).…”

Looking back and looking forward: 20 years of European Political Science serving the political science community in Europe and beyond

“…Mas-Verdu et al (2021) engage in bibliometric analysis of articles published in EPS, examining the significance of research collaborations between authors in shaping academic publications, among other things. Sat against these contextual overviews of the development of the discipline, Ahrens et al (2021) look at the development of gender and politics research, highlighting the key contributions in the field and the key challenges we still need to tackle.…”