Suchergebnisse

We investigate to what extent local political parties have attention for ethnic minority interests. We are interested in whether party-related or context-related variables lead to higher levels of attention to ethnic minority interests. Our analysis is based on a broad scale survey among local party chairs in Belgium. The results show that mainly party-related variables explain variance in attention for ethnic minority interests: leftist parties and active parties are more likely to defend these interests. The presence of ethnic minority people in a party does not have a significant effect once we control for factors at the municipality level.

Este artículo revisa críticamente la extensa literatura sobre la representación política de los grupos sociales y destaca las ventajas de la teoría interseccional para estudiar esta cuestión. Se argumenta que el mérito de dicho enfoque puede ser encontrado en su ontología del poder. La teoría interseccional está basada en la concepción relacional del poder político que ubica la constitución de las relaciones de poder en las interacciones sociales, como la representación política. Por ejemplo, la teoría interseccional impulsa el conocimiento que se encuentra como ocurre en la representación política tras del estudio de las desigualdades en la representación (que están conectadas, presumiblemente, a posiciones sociales estables) para, con ello, considerar los medios por los que dicha representación reproduce las posiciones de privilegio y desventaja.

Este artículo revisa críticamente la extensa literatura sobre la representación política de los grupos sociales y destaca las ventajas de la teoría interseccional para estudiar esta cuestión. Se argumenta que el mérito de dicho enfoque puede ser encontrado en su ontología del poder. La teoría interseccional está basada en la concepción relacional del poder político que ubica la constitución de las relaciones de poder en las interacciones sociales, como la representación política. Por ejemplo, la teoría interseccional impulsa el conocimiento que se encuentra como ocurre en la representación política tras del estudio de las desigualdades en la representación (que están conectadas, presumiblemente, a posiciones sociales estables) para, con ello, considerar los medios por los que dicha representación reproduce las posiciones de privilegio y desventaja. ; This article critically reviews the extant literature on social group representation and clarifies the advantages of intersectionality theory for studying political representation. It argues that the merit of intersectionality theory can be found in its ontology of power. Intersectionality theory is founded on a relational conception of political power that locates the constitution of power relations within social interactions, such as political representation. As such, intersectionality theory pushes scholarship beyond studying representation inequalities —that are linked to presumably stable societal positions— to also consider the ways in which political representation (re)creates positions of privilege and disadvantage.

This article critically reviews the extant literature on social group representation and clarifies the advantages of intersectionality theory for studying political representation. It argues that the merit of intersectionality theory can be found in its ontology of power. Intersectionality theory is founded on a relational conception of political power that locates the constitution of power relations within social interactions, such as political representation. As such, intersectionality theory pushes scholarship beyond studying representation inequalities – that are linked to presumably stable societal positions – to also consider the ways in which political representation (re)creates positions of privilege and disadvantage.

Feminist scholars have developed a solid research agenda on gender equality in politics. This scholarship is built on the conviction that equitable representation of men and women is fundamental to the functioning of representative democracies (Mansbridge 1999; Norris and Lovenduski 1995). In order to comply with the intersectional research paradigm, gender and politics scholars have increasingly focused on other discriminatory mechanisms and how these relate to gender. Marginalized or privileged positions based on gender, ethnicity, race, class, or age are conceived not as "swinging free" from each other, but as interacting (Hancock 2007). Consequently, a group can be privileged in one context but disadvantaged in another depending on historical structures and contexts. Such an intersectional approach raises new questions about the meaning of political equality (Mügge 2013; Mügge and De Jong 2013). For instance, to what extent is women's sheer numerical presence an indicator for political equality if that presence is a marker of inclusion as well as exclusion? This contribution focuses on political recruitment and the question of whether inclusion fosters equality. Drawing on our ongoing research on Belgium and the Netherlands, we argue that an intersectional analysis of recruitment is indispensable to capture the nature of inclusion and exclusion and therefore to the understanding of political equality.