LAUSR.org creates dashboard-style pages of related content for over 1.5 million academic articles. Sign Up to like articles & get recommendations!

Le Parti acadien et la quête d'un paradis perdu Michael Poplyansky, Québec : Septentrion, 2018, pp.178

Photo from wikipedia

how and why policy change on women’s rights occurs. The theoretical framework distinguishes between the different logics embedded in various gender policies, depending on whether the policy challenges women’s status… Click to show full abstract

how and why policy change on women’s rights occurs. The theoretical framework distinguishes between the different logics embedded in various gender policies, depending on whether the policy challenges women’s status as a group (status policies), seeks to transfer responsibility for social reproduction from the family or the market to the state (class policies) or touches on key elements of religious doctrine (doctrinal policies). The type of policy matters because it determines which actors are involved in pursuing and resisting change. Autonomous feminist movements, women in parliament, and left parties all—to varying degrees on different issues— play key roles in pursuing reforms that enhance women’s equality. But equality advocates may confront opposition when policy reform clashes with entrenched religious or cultural traditions or when it seeks to shift caretaking responsibility from families to the state. Notably, for doctrinal issues, the authors acknowledge the complexity of religion, arguing that it is not religion per se but rather its institutionalization in the state that affects policy outcomes. In other words, we should not expect similar policy outcomes across all Muslim-majority or Catholic-majority countries; instead, we need to investigate the historical context of state–religion relations to determine whether religious authorities are likely to succeed in blocking improvements to women’s rights, especially in the areas of family law and abortion (chapters 4 and 6). The bookmakes significant empirical contributions. It is surely the first to address so many different women’s rights policies in a global comparative perspective using a single theoretical framework. Even for policy issues that are traditionally treated as single issues—workplace equality or abortion—Htun and Weldon draw out further nuances. In chapter 3, the authors disaggregate workplace equality into three distinct categories: eliminating discriminatory laws (for example, preventing women from taking certain jobs); adopting equal opportunity laws; and finally, mandating substantive equality (like addressing women’s roles in the informal employment sector). In their chapter on reproductive rights (chapter 6), the authors again show howmuchmorewe learn by disaggregating. Their analysis shows that legal access to abortion follows a status-doctrinal logic, but state funding of abortion follows a class logic. In fact, abortion is “the most complex issue we study in the book” (204) because it follows a status logic, doctrinal logic, and class logic. Ultimately, this book gives cause for optimism, although tempered by the authors’ evidence that progress is neither uniform nor linear. Women’s rights are improving in some regions (Europe and Latin America) but regressing elsewhere (the Middle East and North Africa). That said, reasons for optimism lie in the finding that norm change driven by autonomous feminist movements and international treaties makes a difference. This is an important message for scholars, teachers, students, and activists. Feminists and their allies must be relentless in pursuing change, despite the obstacles. Htun and Weldon’s book sheds light not only on where (and who) those obstacles are but also on which political actors using which political strategies are most likely to help overcome them and advance women’s rights.

Keywords: state; women rights; abortion; policy; change; equality

Journal Title: Canadian Journal of Political Science
Year Published: 2019

Link to full text (if available)


Share on Social Media:                               Sign Up to like & get
recommendations!

Related content

More Information              News              Social Media              Video              Recommended



                Click one of the above tabs to view related content.