Comparative State Feminism

Have institutional changes in governments resulted in policies that reduce gender-based inequities? Have such changes led to the creation of state feminism? And, if state feminism exists, are there variations in the abilities of state structures to promote feminist political agendas in the contexts of the different political, social, and cultural traditions of various countries? In Comparative State Feminism, an international team of contributors analyzes these questions, clearly describing the range and diversity of state structures formally responsible for promoting women′s positions and rights in advanced industrial societies. In addition, these contributors explore the extent to which these state offices achieve feminist goals within the social, political, and historical contexts of each nation-state. Lastly, they propose, based on a cross-national comparison, the combination of political and social factors that appears to produce state structures prone to pursuing effective state feminist action. A must for students and scholars of political science, international studies, and gender studies, this volume will also interest policymakers and others involved in the affairs of government.

Amy G. Mazur is a C.O. Johnson Distinguished Professor in the Department of Political Science at Washington State University. Her research and teaching interests focus on comparative methodology and comparative gender and policy issues with a particular emphasis on France. She is co editor of Political Research Quarterly. Her books include: Comparative State Feminism (Sage, 1995) (editor with Dorothy McBride); Gender Bias and the State: Symbolic Reform at Work in Fifth Republic France (Pittsburgh University Press, 1995); State Feminism, Women′s Movement, and Job Training: Making Democracies Work in the Global Economy (Routledge, 2001) (editor); Theorizing Feminist Policy (Oxford, 2002); Politics, Gender and Concepts (editor with Gary Goertz, Cambridge University Press 2008); The French Fifth Republic at Fifty: Beyond Stereoytpes (editor with Sylvain Brouard and Andrew Appleton, Palgrave, 2008). She has published articles in Comparative European Politics, Revue Française de Science Politique, Politics and Gender, Political Research Quarterly, French Politics and Society, Policy Studies Journal, West European Politics, and European Journal of Political Research, European Political Science, Review of Policy Research, Contemporary French Civilization, French Politics, Travail Genre et Société and Espace-Temps. She is co-convener of the Research Network on Gender Politics and the State and of the French Politics Group of the APSA. In 2007-08, she was a visiting professor at Sciences Po- Paris and in Fall 2001 was the Marie-Jahoda Professor of International Feminist Studies at Ruhr University, Bochum. In 2005-06 she was an expert for the United Nations for the Expert Group Meeting on Equal Participation of Women and Men in Decision-making Processes and rapporteur of the final meeting report. She has also been consulted by the European Union and the Obama Administration. She has received research grants from the National Science Foundation, the European Science Foundation, and the French Ministry of Social Affairs.