The Reluctant Feminist: Angela Merkel and the Modernization of Gender Politics in Germany
Titelübersetzung:Feministin wider Willen? Angela Merkel und Geschlechtergleichheit in Deutschland
Autor/in:
Mushaben, Joyce Marie
Quelle: Femina Politica - Zeitschrift für feministische Politikwissenschaft, 27 (2018) 2, S 83-95
Inhalt: Academic studies regarding the impact of various forms of gender representation focus largely on quantitative evidence that women in power can make a difference, downplaying qualitative case studies that can establish causal links between women's participation in government and better policies for women. Analyzing policy changes initiated by Germany’s first female Chancellor since 2005, the paper argues that despite her CDU-affiliation, Angela Merkel has contributed more to gender equality in Germany than all previous chancellors, even though she refuses to label herself a feminist. The author explores three factors shaping Merkel's reluctance to embrace the (western dominated) feminist label, e.g., her socialization under a diametrically opposed GDR gender regime, her preference for data-driven policy learning, her aversion towards “ideological” framing, coupled with a tendency to pursue mixed motives, respectively. The paper concludes with recent examples geared towards leveling the global gender playing-field, attesting to her willingness to embrace transformational representation.
Schlagwörter:woman; Politikerin; ; politische Entscheidung; political decision; Entscheidungsfindung; decision making; Repräsentation; representation; Intersektionalität; intersectionality; Gleichstellung; affirmative action; Merkel, A.; Merkel, A.; Geschlechterpolitik; gender policy; Feminismus; feminism; Federal Republic of Germany
SSOAR Kategorie:Frauen- und Geschlechterforschung, politische Willensbildung, politische Soziologie, politische Kultur
Women's Coalitions beyond the Laicism-Islamism Divide in Turkey: Towards an Inclusive Struggle for Gender Equality?
Autor/in:
Çağatay, Selin
Quelle: Social Inclusion, 6 (2018) 4, S 48-58
Inhalt: In the 2010s in Turkey, the ruling Justice and Development Party's (AKP) authoritarian-populist turn accompanied the institutionalization of political Islam. As laicism was discredited and labeled as an imposed-from-above principle of Western/Kemalist modernity, the notion of equality ceased to inform the state’s gender policies. In response to AKP's attempts to redefine gender relations through the notions of complementarity and fıtrat (purpose of creation), women across the political spectrum have mobilized for an understanding of gender equality that transcends the laicism - Islamism divide yet maintains secularity as its constitutive principle. Analyzing three recent attempts of women's coalition-building, this article shows that, first, gender equality activists in the 2010s are renegotiating the border between secularity and piety towards more inclusive understandings of gender equality; and second, that struggles against AKP’s gender politics are fragmented due to different configurations of gender equality and secularity that reflect class and ethnic antagonisms in Turkish society. The article thereby argues for the need to move beyond binary approaches to secularism and religion that have so far dominated the scholarly analysis of women’s activism in both Turkey and the Nordic context.
When the Personal Is Always Political: Norwegian Muslims' Arguments for Women's Rights
Autor/in:
Helseth, Hannah
Quelle: Social Inclusion, 6 (2018) 4, S 59-66
Inhalt: For almost two decades, the public debate about Islam in Western Europe has been dominated by concerns about the lack of gender equality in the racialized Muslim population. There has been a tendency to victimize "the Muslim woman" rather than to encourage Muslim women’s participation in the public debate about their lives. This contribution to the study of discourses on Muslim women is an analysis of arguments written by Muslims about women’s rights. The data consists of 239 texts written by self-defined Muslims in major Norwegian newspapers about women’s rights. I will discuss two findings from the study. The first is an appeal to be personal when discussing issues of domestic violence and racism is combined with an implicit and explicit demand to represent all Muslims in order to get published in newspapers - which creates an ethno-religious threshold for participation in the public debate. The second finding is that, across different positions and different religious affiliations, from conservative to nearly secular, and across the timeline, from 2000 to 2012, there is a dominant understanding of women's rights as individual autonomy. These findings will be discussed from different theoretical perspectives to explore how arguments for individual autonomy can both challenge and amplify neoliberal agendas.
Schlagwörter:Arendt, H.; Arendt, H.; Feminismus; feminism; Individualismus; individualism; Neoliberalismus; neoliberalism; Islam; Islam; Gleichstellung; affirmative action; Menschenrechte; human rights; woman; Muslim; Muslim; Europa; Europe; Norwegen; Norway; Brown, W.; public debate; traditional media; women’s rights
SSOAR Kategorie:Frauen- und Geschlechterforschung, Religionssoziologie
Solidarity in Head-Scarf and Pussy Bow Blouse: Reflections on Feminist Activism and Knowledge Production
Autor/in:
Gemzöe, Lena
Quelle: Social Inclusion, 6 (2018) 4, S 67-81
Inhalt: The author of this article discusses the ways in which gender equality and intersectionality are understood and enacted in two recent feminist campaigns in Sweden that use similar techniques to mobilise support for different causes. The first campaign is the so-called Hijab Call-to-Action, a solidarity action that took place in 2013 in which women in Sweden wore a hijab (the Muslim headscarf) for one day in defence of Muslim women’s rights. This campaign manifests the ways in which the notion of gender equality brings with it a norm of secularity, but also how the equation of equality and secularity is contested. The second feminist campaign discussed is the so-called Pussy Bow Blouse manifestation that aimed at taking a stand in the controversies surrounding the Swedish Academy as a result of the Metoo campaign in Sweden. The author looks at the political and discursive processes enfolded in these campaigns as a sort of collective learning processes that connect feminist activism and scholarship. A key concern is to critically analyse a binary model of powerless versus gender-equal or feminist women that figure in both debates. Further, the author shows that both campaigns appeal to solidarity through identification, but at the same time underscore the contingent and coalitional nature of identity in the act of dressing in a scarf or a blouse to take on a (political) identity for a day.
The Traps of International Scripts: Making a Case for a Critical Anthropology of Gender and Sexuality in Development
Autor/in:
Roodsaz, Rahil; Van Raemdonck, An
Quelle: Social Inclusion, 6 (2018) 4, S 16-24
Inhalt: In this article, we look at colonialities of gender and sexuality as concepts employed in international aid and development. These international arenas reveal not only strong reiterations of modernist linear thinking and colonial continuities but also provide insights into the complexities of the implementation and vernacularisation of gender and sexuality in practices of development. Using a critical anthropological perspective, we discuss case studies based on our own research in Egypt and Bangladesh to illustrate the importance of unpacking exclusionary mechanisms of gender and sexuality scripts in the promotion of women’s rights and sexual and reproductive health and rights in postcolonial development contexts. We provide a conceptual analysis of decolonial feminist attempts at moving beyond the mere critique of development to enable a more inclusive conversation in the field of development. To work towards this goal, we argue, a critical anthropological approach proves promising in allowing a politically-sensitive, ethical, and critical engagement with the Other.
Schlagwörter:Kolonialismus; colonialism; Anthropologie; anthropology; Gender; gender; Sexualität; sexuality; internationale Hilfe; international aid; Entwicklungshilfe; development aid; woman; Menschenrechte; human rights; Postkolonialismus; post-colonialism; Feminismus; feminism; Ägypten; Egypt; Bangladesch; Bangladesh; Entwicklungsland; developing country; Nordafrika; North Africa; Südasien; South Asia; critical anthropology; development;
SSOAR Kategorie:Frauen- und Geschlechterforschung, Entwicklungsländersoziologie, Entwicklungssoziologie
Celibate women, the construction of identity, Karama (dignity), and the "Arab Spring"
Titelübersetzung:Zölibatär lebende Frauen, die Konstruktion von Identität, Karama (Würde) und der "Arabische Frühling"
Autor/in:
Labidi, Lilia
Quelle: GENDER - Zeitschrift für Geschlecht, Kultur und Gesellschaft, 9 (2017) 1, S 11-29
Inhalt: "Untersuchungen über den 'Arabischen Frühling“ tendieren dazu, die wirtschaftlichen und politischen Bedürfnisse Jugendlicher zu fokussieren, adressieren jedoch nicht ihre sozialpsychologischen Bedürfnisse, wie etwa den unerfüllten Heiratswunsch und dessen soziale Konsequenzen. Der Beitrag diskutiert den Fall zölibatär lebender Frauen in Tunesien, für die es aufgrund der hohen Jugendarbeitslosigkeit und daraus folgender Probleme schwierig ist, Übergangsrituale zu durchlaufen, die sie von der Kindheit ins Erwachsenendasein geleiten und ihnen die vollständige Integration in die Gemeinschaft ermöglichen würden. Um in ihrer durch den diktatorischen Staat dominierten Lebenswelt dennoch Selbstkontrolle zu erlangen, haben sie für sich eine Form der asketischen Lebensführung gewählt, indem sie den hijab tragen, den Koran lesen, das tägliche Fasten praktizieren und die hudud neu verhandeln - also die moralischen und rechtlichen Grenzen, die schon lang Gegenstand breiter Debatten und sozialer Reformen sind; gleichzeitig unterstützen sie die Frauenrechte, so wie sie in Tunesiens Familienrecht verankert sind. Der Beitrag widmet sich besonders dem hierauf bezogenen politischen Diskurs im ‚Arabischen Frühling‘ seit 2011 und dem Bemühen, eine 'moralische Persönlichkeit' zu entwickeln." (Autorenreferat)
Inhalt: "Studies of the 'Arab Spring' have tended to focus on the economic and political needs of youth, but have not addressed socio-psychological needs such as an unfulfilled desire for marriage and its social consequences. This article discusses the case of celibate women in Tunisia who, because of the high rate of youth unemployment and its social consequences, find it difficult to accomplish the rites of passage that would take them from childhood to adulthood and allow full integration into the community. In order to gain control over the self in a social context that was dominated by a dictatorial state, they have chosen a form of asceticism, wearing the hijab, reading the Qur'an, practicing daily fasting, and re-negotiating hudud - that is moral boundaries and legal limits that have long been a subject of wide debate and of social reforms; at the same time, they support women's rights as expressed in Tunisia's Personal Status Code. Particular attention is paid in this article to the political discourse after 2011 and efforts to construct a 'moral personality.'" (author's abstract)
Schlagwörter:Tunesien; Tunisia; woman; Ritual; ritual; Askese; asceticism; Lebensstil; life style; Religiosität; religiousness; Menschenrechte; human rights; Feminismus; feminism; Gleichheit; equality; Identität; identity; Emanzipation; emancipation; Geschlechterverhältnis; gender relations; arabische Länder; Arab countries; Nordafrika; North Africa; Transformation; transformation; enthaltsame Frauen; Arabischer Frühling; Nahdha
SSOAR Kategorie:Frauen- und Geschlechterforschung, Ethnologie, Kulturanthropologie, Ethnosoziologie
Living in a Material World: Entwurf einer queer-feministischen Ökonomie
Titelübersetzung:Living in a material world: a sketch for a queer-feminist economics
Autor/in:
Bauhardt, Christine
Quelle: GENDER - Zeitschrift für Geschlecht, Kultur und Gesellschaft, 9 (2017) 1, S 99-114
Inhalt: "Das Zusammendenken von strukturalistisch-materialistischem Feminismus und Neuem materialistischem Feminismus ermöglicht die Weiterentwicklung ökofeministischer Kritik an gesellschaftlichen Naturverhältnissen im Kapitalismus. Ausgehend von der Analyse der Sozialen Reproduktion als materieller Struktur kapitalistischer Produktions- und Machtverhältnisse rückt die materielle Re-Produktivität des Frauenkörpers erneut in den Fokus feministischer Analyse. Die queerökologische Perspektive auf den Nexus von Sexualität, Natur, Weiblichkeit und Sorgeverantwortung dekonstruiert die 'Natürlichkeit' weiblicher ReProduktivität und heterosexueller Mutterschaft. Der Ansatz der Queer Ecologies erweitert die ökofeministische Analyse um eine nicht-heteronormative Konzeption von Sorgeverantwortung für Menschen und Natur, die nicht an heterosexuelle Mutterschaft gebunden ist. Alternative Ökonomien jenseits von kapitalistischen ReProduktionsverhältnissen werden dann nicht nur die Ausbeutung von natürlichen Ressourcen beenden, sondern auch die gesellschaftliche Vernutzung und ökonomische Unsichtbarkeit der Arbeit von Frauen in der Sozialen Reproduktion." (Autorenreferat)
Inhalt: "Structural materialist feminism and new material feminism enable us to enhance the ecofeminist criticism of societal relationships to nature in capitalism. Social reproduction is the starting point for analyzing the material structure of capitalist production modes and power relations. Thus, the material re/productivity of the female body again comes to the fore in feminist analysis. The queer ecology approach to the nexus of sexuality, nature, femininity, and care deconstructs the assumed 'naturalness' of female re/productivity and heterosexual motherhood. Queer ecologies broaden the scope of ecofeminist analysis and bring in a non-heteronormative conception of care for humans and for nature which is not bound to heterosexual motherhood. Alternative economies beyond capitalist relations of re/production will then not only put an end to the exploitation of natural resources but also to the social appropriation and economic invisibility of women's work for social reproduction." (author's abstract)
Conflict of culture and religion: Jalal Al-e-Ahmad's "Pink Nail Polish" from a Bakhtin's carnivalistic point of view
Autor/in:
Oroskhan, Muhammad Hussein; Anoosheh, Sayyed Mohammad
Quelle: International Letters of Social and Humanistic Sciences, (2017) 77, S 35-43
Inhalt: By the 1930s, the Iranian society was driven toward modernization. Consisted with the concept of modernization, feminism ushered a whole new era in Iranian history. Besides, the outbreak of World War II and the consequent abdication of Reza Khan afforded women a golden opportunity to fight for their rights and emancipations. This movement was also supported by the famous male writers of the time among whom Jalal Al-e-Ahmad marked a prominent place. He was keen enough to properly explore women's situation in his works and notice the drastic effect of modernization upon women's situation. Hence, in this study, we try to investigate Al-e-Ahmad's short story entitled "Pink Nail Polish" 1948 with respect to Bakhtin's Carnivalesque's theory. Furthermore, it is shown how Bakhtin's new literary mode can create the excellent chance of studying Iranian women's situation properly. Finally, we explain that due to the drastic change of Iranian women's situation towards modernity, they may lead a double life if their rights are not respected. This can lead to a disproportionate relationship between the husband and the wife as the marital infidelity becomes rampant.
Schlagwörter:Iran; Iran; Modernisierung; modernization; 20. Jahrhundert; twentieth century; Feminismus; feminism; woman; soziale Lage; social situation; Literatur; literature; Kulturkonflikt; cultural conflict; religiöser Konflikt; religious conflict
SSOAR Kategorie:Frauen- und Geschlechterforschung, Kultursoziologie, Kunstsoziologie, Literatursoziologie, Allgemeine Soziologie, Makrosoziologie, spezielle Theorien und Schulen, Entwicklung und Geschichte der Soziologie
Die "gute Geburt" - Ergebnis richtiger Entscheidungen? Zur Kritik des gegenwärtigen Selbstbestimmungsdiskurses vor dem Hintergrund der Ökonomisierung des Geburtshilfesystems
Titelübersetzung:Is a "good birth" the result of the "right" choices? A critique of the current discourse on self-determination in light of the economization of obstetric services
Autor/in:
Jung, Tina
Quelle: GENDER - Zeitschrift für Geschlecht, Kultur und Gesellschaft, 9 (2017) 2, S 30-45
Inhalt: "Selbstbestimmung, informed choice und informed consent sind zu Schlüsselbegriffen in der Geburtshilfe avanciert. Dabei fällt die Popularität des gegenwärtigen Selbstbestimmungsdiskurses in eine Zeit, in der die Geburtshilfe im Zeichen der neoliberalen Ökonomisierung einem tiefgreifenden Wandel unterliegt, der sich u.a. in einer deutlichen Verschlechterung der strukturellen Rahmenbedingungen der Versorgungsqualität von schwangeren und gebärenden Frauen und in einer Abwertung von somatisch-beziehungsorientierten Momenten von Geburtsbegleitung zeigt. Der Beitrag untersucht, welche Bedeutungsverschiebungen das Verständnis von Selbstbestimmung durchlaufen und welche Effekte dies aktuell für schwangere und gebärende Frauen in der Geburtshilfe hat. Gezeigt wird, dass und wie der derzeitige Selbstbestimmungsdiskurs in der Geburtshilfe dazu beiträgt, die Verantwortung für das Gelingen einer 'guten' Geburt auf die Frauen zu verschieben und gleichzeitig den Verlust jener somatisch-beziehungsorientierten Bedingungen, auf die es für eine gute Geburtshilfe ankommt, zu legitimieren. Im Beitrag wird dafür plädiert, Selbstbestimmung nicht länger als Frage der Information, der Vorbereitung und der Entscheidung zu verstehen, sondern als Frage der Befähigung zu Urteilskraft, die Momente der Angewiesenheit, Achtsamkeit, Fürsorge, Schmerz, Angst, aber auch Kraft, Lust und Freude einschließen kann." (Autorenreferat)
Inhalt: "Self-determination, informed choice and informed consent have become important keywords in obstetric and midwifery practice. The popularity of the current discourse on self-determination coincides with the fact that obstetrics is increasingly being subjected to neoliberal economization and is thereby undergoing profound change. This change manifests itself, above all, in the fact that the structural framework of care for pregnant and birthing women is clearly deteriorating, and in that the somatic relationship-oriented aspects of obstetrics and midwifery are being devalued. I analyze the shift in our understanding of what self-determination is and I also map out the current effects of this shift on pregnant women and women in labour. Furthermore, I illustrate that, and in what way, the current discourse on self-determination in obstetric and midwifery practice leads to the fact that the responsibility for a “good” birth is being transferred onto women. This signifies a loss of the particular temporality and the somatic phenomena the woman in labour experiences. In my conclusion I argue that self-determination should no longer be understood as a question of information, preparation and decision, but rather as enabling judgement, which includes aspects of dependence, awareness, care, pain, fear, but also power, desire and joy." (author's abstract)
Schlagwörter:Selbstbestimmung; self-determination; Geburtshilfe; obstetrics; Ökonomisierung; economization; Schwangerschaft; pregnancy; Gesundheitsversorgung; health care; Qualität; quality; Feminismus; feminism; woman; Gesundheit; health; Federal Republic of Germany
SSOAR Kategorie:Frauen- und Geschlechterforschung, Medizinsoziologie