Mainstreaming gender, democratizing the State? : institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women / Shirin M. Rai, editor.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rai, Shirin.

Contributor:

United Nations

Series:

Perspectives on democratization

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Democratization.

Equality.

Women--Social conditions.

Women.

Physical Description:

xix, 298 pages ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Manchester ; New York : Manchester University Press ; New York : distributed exclusively in the USA by Palgrave, 2003.

Summary:

Democratization has become an important concept in the last ten years. With the end of the Cold War, the spread of globalization, and the extension of economic regulatory regimes, democratization has come to be seen as important to securing long-term political stability. Much has been written about democratization and gender in works on human rights, citizenship, women's movements and challenges to authoritarian regimes. This book, published in association with the United Nations, builds on this existing body of literature by looking at the relevance of national machineries for the advancement of women. Appropriate mechanisms through which the mainstreaming of gender can take place are considered, as are the levels of governance involved: the relationship between gender mainstreaming and state structures, and the effect of this relationship on issues of decentralization, accountability, consultation and participation. An attempt is made to define what the 'interests of women' are, and how and by what processes these interests are represented to the state policy making structures.

Global strategies for the advancement of women, and how far these have penetrated at national levels, are considered. These are illuminated by a series of case studies: gender equality in Sweden and other Nordic countries, the Ugandan ministry of Gender. Culture and Social services, gender awareness in Central and Eastern Europe, and further examples from South Korea, the Lebanon, Beijing and Australia. This book will be of vital use to students of democratization, gender studies and politics, and is the first full-length appraisal of global strategies and national machineries for the advancement of women.

Contents:

Part I Conceptual Frameworks 13

1 Institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women: mainstreaming gender, democratizing the state? / Shirin M. Rai 15

2 Gender mainstreaming: conceptual links to institutional machineries / Kathleen Staudt 40

Part II Comparative Analyses 67

3 National women's machinery: state-based institutions to advocate for gender equality / Anne Marie Goetz 69

4 National women's machineries: structures and spaces / Nuket Kardam, Selma Acuner 96

5 The role of the women's movement in institutionalizing a gender focus in public policy: the Ecuadorian experience / Silvia Vega Ugalde 117

6 The National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women, the women's movement and gender mainstreaming in the Philippines / Jurgette Honculada, Rosalinda Pineda Ofreneo 131

7 National machinery for gender equality in Sweden and other Nordic countries / Birgitta Aseskog 146

8 Gender awareness and the national machineries in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe / Zuzana Jezerska 167

9 The government of the United Kingdom: the Women's National Commission / Wendy Stokes 184

10 The national machinery for gender equality in Uganda: institutionalized gesture politics? / Joy C. Kwesiga 203

11 The National Commission for Women: the Indian experience / Shirin M. Rai 223

12 The life and times of women's policy machinery in Australia / Marian Sawer 243

Conclusions: looking forward / Shirin M. Rai 265.

Notes:

"Published for and on behalf of the United Nations."

Includes bibliographical references (pages [275]-291) and index.

ISBN:

0719059771

071905978X

OCLC:

51526795