Students will address key concepts, theories, and debates using a multidisciplinary approach to gender and politics through critical reading and annotation. The course emphasizes the lived experience of women, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and marginalized genders. Students will explore debates around gender hierarchies, masculinities, and feminisms to analyze the impact that gender has on political representation, policymaking, economics, social movements, and power dynamics. The course will also allow students to familiarize themselves with understanding the strategies that various groups have used for promoting gender equity and social change within pollical and economic systems. This course includes reading and discussion questions, a policy paper consisting of four short written assignments spaced throughout term, a midterm, and a final exam.

1. Understand and critically analyze key concepts, theories, and debates in the field of political science and how it interacts with concepts of gender and identity.

2. Examine and assess the ways in which gender shapes economics, political systems, institutions, policies, and practices.

3. Analyze the impact of gender on political representation, policymaking, the economy, social movements, and power dynamics.

4. Identify and evaluate strategies people, groups and organizations use for promoting gender equity and social justice in political systems.

5. Apply gender and political analysis to real-world case studies and contemporary issues. 

6. Formulate their own views on gender politics and the economy.

7. Develop effective communication and research skills on policy through class discussions, critical reading, and written assignments.

Absences should be rare and reserved for unforeseen circumstances. You cannot make up a midterm or final without the permission of the Dean’s Office. The Associate Dean’s office should not be involved in correspondence regarding any other type of routine absence. This means that if you need to return home for a funeral, if you need to go to the dentist, if you have a fingerprinting appointment, if you are ill, or for any other reason that I have not listed, you simply do not come to class that day and you contact a colleague to find out what went on in class. Let us all agree that if you need to be absent, I believe you and I trust that you will find out what you missed from a colleague. Let’s create a world in which we believe each other and trust that we would be in class every session if we could. Let us focus on building skills of direct student-professor communication rather than asking others to intervene on routine absence matters on our behalf.  It should go without saying that frequent absences will mean you are less prepared to meet the learning objectives of the course. Thus, your grade will suffer because, simply put, you are unfamiliar with what we have done in class. At the 5th absence, you will be asked to withdraw from the course. 

There are always one or two obvious common sense extreme exceptions to this aspiration, but generally it is best to avoid triggering institutional responses for routine short-term absences. The bottom line is that every student, including you, is a treasured resource for each class. We need you as much as you need us. Without you, it's just not the same.

If you are unsure of what a superior level of classroom engagement looks like, please consult the Class Engagement Rubric posted to Moodle.

ACADEMIC HONESTY

The very point of why we are all here is that we want to develop ourselves into well-rounded life-long learners. Cutting corners with paper-writing services and AI (including Grammarly or Word writing assistants, etc., or recycling older papers cheapens everyone’s experience of the course and professors tend to take it personally. Some assignments will make use of AI tools and others will not. Pay attention to instructions. A good rule is that if you have to ask, “Is this okay to do?”, it probably is not. If you are unsure, it can't hurt to ask.

Week 1 Introducing Gender  

Schedule and topics:

Week 1: Introduction to Gender and Politics

- Defining key terms and concepts

- Understanding the intersectionality of gender with other social categories

- Historical overview of gender and politics scholarship

Readings/Sources:

• Lorber, J. (2006). Shifting Paradigms and Challenging Categories. Social Problems, 53(4), 448–453. https://doi.org/10.1525/sp.2006.53.4.448 📗
• Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. (2012, December). We Should All Be Feminists [video]. TED Conferences. www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_we_should_all_be_feminists?subtitle=en&geo=it.💻

Week 2: Gender and Political Theory

- Feminist political theory

- Gendered dimensions of power and citizenship

- Masculinities in politics

Readings:

• Bryson, Valerie, (2003) "Feminism and Political Theory" from Feminist Political Theory: An Introduction. Palgrave 💻
• Nash, J. C. (2008). “Re-thinking intersectionality”. Feminist Review, 89, 1–15. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40663957 📗
• Connell, R. W., & Messerschmidt, J. W. (2005). Hegemonic masculinity: rethinking the concept. Gender & Society, 19(6), 829–859. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243205278639. 📗

Week 3: Gender and Political Representation

Make up class

- Theories of representation

- Women's political representation

- LGBTQIA+ representation

Readings:

• Haider-Markel, D. P. (2010). Translating Descriptive Representation into Substantive Representation. In Out and Running: Gay and Lesbian Candidates, Elections, and Policy Representation (pp. 118–128). Georgetown University Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt2tt34x.10 📗
• Celis, K. (2009). Substantive representation of women (and improving it): what it is and should be about? Comparative European Politics, 7(1), 95–113. https://doi.org/10.1057/cep.2008.35📗

Week 4: Gender and Political Parties

- Gender gaps in party membership and leadership

- Party policies on gender issues

- Impact of gender on party platforms and strategies

Readings:

• "Gendering Party Politics: The Impact of Descriptive Representation in Comparative Perspective" by Mona Lena Krook 💻
• Chapter 5: "The Impact of Political Parties on Women's Political Representation" from Carroll, S. J., & Fox, R. L. (2014). Gender and elections: shaping the future of American politics (Third). Cambridge University Press. 📗

Week 5: Gender and Elections

- Gendered campaign dynamics

- Media representation of female candidates

- Barriers and biases in electoral processes

Readings:

• Daddow, O., & Hertner, I. (2021). Interpreting toxic masculinity in political parties: A framework for analysis. Party Politics, 27(4), 743–754. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354068819887591 💻
• Wagner, A., Trimble, L., & Sampert, S. (2019). One smart politician: gendered media discourses of political leadership in Canada. Canadian Journal of Political Science, 52(1), 141–162. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0008423918000471 📗

Week 6: Gender and Policy-Making

Policy proposal due

- Gender mainstreaming in policy development

- Policy issues affecting women and marginalized genders

- Feminist policy analysis

Readings:

• Bustelo, M., & Mazur, A. G. (2023). The practice of ideas in gender equality policy: comparative lessons from the field, European Journal of Politics and Gender, 6(1), 3-22. Retrieved Jul 12, 2023, from https://doi.org/10.1332/251510821X16696345290590 💻
• Porter, F., & Sweetman, C. Editorial from Porter, F., & Sweetman, C. (Eds.). (2005). Mainstreaming gender in development : a critical review (Ser. Oxfam focus on gender). Oxfam GB. 📗💻

Week 7: MIDTERM EXAM

Gender and Social Movements

- Women's movements and feminist activism

- LGBTQIA+ movements and queer politics

- Intersectionality in social movements

Readings:

• Horn, J. “Gender and Social Movements Overview Report”, Institute of Development Studies, https://www.ludenet.org/projects-files/6/resources/gender-and-social-movements-overview-report-2013-206.pdf 📗💻
• Hurwitz, HM and AD Crossley, “Gender and Social Movements” from David A. Snow, et al., (Eds.)  The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Social Movements John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated, 2018. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.jcu.idm.oclc.org/lib/johncabot/detail.action?docID=5520245. 📗💻

Week 8: Gender and Global Politics

Midterm - Literature review due

- Gendered impacts of globalization

- Gender and war/conflict

Readings:

• Hannah, E., Roberts, A., & Trommer, S. (2021). Towards a feminist global trade politics. Globalizations, 18(1), 70–85. https://doi.org/10.1080/14747731.2020.1779966 📗💻
• Cockburn, C. (2013). War and security, women and gender: an overview of the issues. Gender and Development, 21(3), 433–452. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24697269 📗

Week 9: Gender and Political Violence

- Gender-based violence in political contexts

- Armed conflict, gender, sexual minorities

- Human rights, peacebuilding and the aftermath of political violence

Reading and Video:

• Bardall, G., Bjarnegård, E., & Piscopo, J. M. (2020). How is political violence gendered? disentangling motives, forms, and impacts. Political Studies, 68(4), 916–935. https://doi.org/10.1177/0032321719881812 📗
• Protecting Gender and Sexual Minorities During Armed Conflict: A Conversation with Victor Madrigal-Borloz, U.N. Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity https://www.usip.org/events/protecting-gender-and-sexual-minorities-during-armed-conflict 💻

Week 10: Gender and Governance

In-class arguments due

- Gendered dimensions of leadership

- Gender and decision-making processes

- Gender-responsive governance

Readings:

• Chapter 1 “Women’s Political Participation and the Influence of contagion” and Conclusion “Why Contagion Matters” in Frank C. Thames, & Margaret S. Williams. (2013). Contagious Representation : Women’s Political Representation in Democracies Around the World. NYU Press. 📗
• Chapter 12, “Understanding gender and the politics of crisis in Europe” in Kantola, J., & Lombardo, E. (Eds.). (2017). Gender and the economic crisis in Europe: Politics, institutions and intersectionality. Springer International Publishing AG. 📗

Week 11: Gender and Policy Implementation

- Challenges in implementing gender policies

- Monitoring and evaluation of gender-responsive policies

- Case studies of successful policy implementation

Readings:

• Lau, J.D., Kleiber, D., Lawless, S. et al. Gender equality in climate policy and practice hindered by assumptions. Nat. Clim. Chang. 11, 186–192 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-021-00999-7 💻
• Chapter 2, “Gendered Migrations and Conceptual Approaches” in Christou, A., & Kofman, E. (2022). Gender and migration : IMISCOE short reader (Ser. Imiscoe research series). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-91971-9 📗

Week 12: Gender and Social Change

Assembled Paper due

- Feminist approaches to social change

- Gender equality movements

- Transformative justice

Readings and video:

• What is Transformative Justice? (14 minutes) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-_BOFz5TXo 💻
• Mimi E. Kim (2018) From carceral feminism to transformative justice: Women-of-color feminism and alternatives to incarceration, Journal of Ethnic & Cultural Diversity in Social Work, 27:3, 219-233, DOI: 10.1080/15313204.2018.1474827 💻

Week 13: Gender and Intersectionality

- Intersectional approaches to gender and politics

- Examining gender alongside race, class, and other identities

- Critiques and challenges of intersectional feminism

Readings:

• Crenshaw, K. (1991). Mapping the margins: intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color. Stanford Law Review, 43(6), 1241–1299. 📗
• Davis, K. (2008). Intersectionality as buzzword. Feminist Theory, 9, 67 - 85. 💻

Week 14: Strategies for Advancing Gender Equality

- Policy recommendations for gender equality

- Mobilizing for change: advocacy and activism

- Reflections on the course and final

Readings:

• Chapters 4, 5, 6 in Monro, S. (2005). Gender Politics: Citizenship, Activism and Sexual Diversity. Pluto Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt183q5wt 📗

Week 15: Final exam

Further reading (This is not an exhaustive list. It is a sourcing starter list for further reading. All are available through the JCU Library website):

Gender and Politics

• Connell, R. W. (1990). The State, Gender, and Sexual Politics: Theory and Appraisal. Theory and Society, 19(5), 507–544. http://www.jstor.org/stable/657562
• Walters, M. (2005). Feminism: A very short introduction (Ser. Very short introductions, 141). Oxford University Press.
• Beauvoir, S. de. (2015). The second Sex. (C. Borde & S. Malovany-Chevallier, Trans.) (New edition). Vintage Books.

Gender and Political Theory

• hooks, bell. (2015). Feminist theory: from margin to center. Routledge.
• Butler, J. (2006). Gender Trouble: feminism and the subversion of identity (Ser. Routledge classics). Routledge.
• Mill, J. S., & Mill, H. H. T. (2009). The Subjection of Women. Floating Press.

Gender and Political Representation

• Carroll, S. J., & Sanbonmatsu, K. (2013). More women can run : gender and pathways to the state legislatures. Oxford University Press.
• Krook, M. L., & Norris, P. (2014). Beyond quotas: strategies to promote gender equality in elected office. Political Studies, 62(1), 2–20. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9248.12116
• Chiva, C. (2018). Gender, institutions and political representation : reproducing male dominance in Europe's new democracies (Ser. Gender and politics). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-01177-0
• Barczyszyn-Madziarz, P. (Ed.). (2022). Gender and LGBTQ issues in election processes : global and local contexts (Ser. Routledge studies in gender, sexuality and politics). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003204411

Gender and Political Parties

• Kenny, M., & Verge Tània. (2015). Introduction. Politics & Gender, 11(4), 746–748. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1743923X15000458 - Read not only introduction, but entire issue of this journal for a solid overview of key debates in this area
• Murray, R. (2010). Parties, gender quotas and candidate selection in France (Ser. French politics, society and culture series). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230275294
• Devasahayam, T. W. (Ed.). (2019). Women and politics in Southeast Asia: navigating a man's world (Ser. The Sussex library of Asian and Asian American studies). Sussex Academic Press
• Deutsch, S. M. G., & Blee, K. M. (2012). Women of the Right: comparisons and interplay across borders. Pennsylvania State University Press.

Gender and Elections

• Carroll, S. J., & Fox, R. L. (2014). Gender and elections: shaping the future of American politics (Third). Cambridge University Press.
• Dittmar, K. (2015). Navigating gendered terrain: stereotypes and strategy in political campaigns. Temple University Press.

Gender and Policymaking

• Ellina, C. A. (2003). Promoting women's rights: the politics of gender in the European Union (Ser. Studies in international relations). Routledge
• Burki, S. (2013). The politics of state intervention: gender politics in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran. Lexington Books.
• Haas, L. (2010). Feminist policymaking in Chile. Pennsylvania State University Press.

Gender and Social Movements

• Tremblay, M. (2015). Queer mobilizations: social movement activism and Canadian public policy. UBC Press.
• Snyder, A. C., & Stobbe, S. P. (2011). Critical aspects of gender in conflict resolution, peacebuilding, and social movements (Ser. Research in social movements, conflicts and change, v. 32). Emerald.
• Adichie, C. N. (2015). We should all be feminists. Anchor Books.

Gender and Global Politics

• Runyan, A. S., & Peterson, V. S. (2014). Global gender issues in the new millennium (4th ed., Ser. Dilemmas in world politics). Westview Press
• Baaz, M. E., & Stern, M. (2013). Sexual violence as a weapon of war?: perceptions, prescriptions, problems in the Congo and beyond (Ser. Africa now). Zed Books. 
• Hilsdon, A.-M. (2000). Human rights and gender politics in the Asia-pacific (Ser. Routledge advances in Asia-Pacific studies, 4). Routledge.
• Dietz, G. and Roth, J. (2020). Right-Wing Populism and Gender: European Perspectives and Beyond. Verlag.

Gender and Political Violence

• Giles, W. M., & Hyndman, J. (Eds.). (2004). Sites of violence: gender and conflict zones. University of California Press.
• Gentry, C. E. (2020). Disordered violence: how gender, race and heteronormativity structure terrorism (Ser. Advances in critical military studies). Edinburgh University Press.
• Sjoberg, L. (2013). Gendering global conflict: toward a feminist theory of war. Columbia University Press.
• NOVA Science. (2018). Gender Violence: prevalence, implications and global perspectives (Ser. Bullying and victimization).

Gender and Governance

• Rhode, D.L. (2016). Women and leadership. Oxford University Press.
• Paxton, P., Hughes, M., and Barnes, T. (2020). Women, Politics, and Power: A Global Perspective. Rowman and Littlefield.

Gender and Policy Implementation

• Hirschmann, N. J. and Liebert, U., (2001). Women and Welfare: Theory and Practice in the United States and Europe. Rutgers UP.
• Krizsàn, A., Skjeje, H., Squires, J. (2012). Institutionalizing intersectionality : the changing nature of European equality regimes. Pallgrave. 
• United Nations. UN Women Policy Brief Series. www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2015/12/un-women-policy-brief-series
• United Nations. (2023). Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals: The gender snapshot. www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2023/09/progress-on-the-sustainable-development-goals-the-gender-snapshot-2023.

Gender and Social Change

• hooks, bell. (2004). The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love. Washington Square Press.
• Moraga, C. and Anzaldúa, Gloria E. (1981). This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color. Persephone Press.
• Arruzza, C., Bhattacharya, T., and Fraser, N. (2019). Feminism for the 99%: A Manifesto. Verso.

Gender and Intersectionality

• Collins, P. H. and Bilge, S. (2020). Intersectionality (Key Concepts). Polity.
• Tudor, A. (2021). "Decolonizing Trans/Gender Studies, Teaching gender, race, and sexuality in times of the rise of the global right" in Transgender Studies Quarterly. pp. 238-256.

Strategies for Advancing Gender Equality

• Wellman, J. (2004). The Road to Seneca Falls: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the First Woman's Rights Convention. University of Illinois Press.
• Boeston, J. (2022). "Transformative Gender Justice: Criminal Proceedings for Conflict-Related Sexual Violence in Guatemala and Peru" in Australian Journal of Human Rights. pp. 487-504.
• Epprecht, M. (2013). Sexuality and Social Justice in Africa: Rethinking Homophobia and Forging Resistance. Zed.