Performing Representation
Women Members in the Indian Parliament
Published on 17. January 2019
Book
Hardback
456 pages
978-0-19-948905-3 (ISBN)
Description
Breaking new ground in scholarship on gender and politics, Performing Representation is the first comprehensive analysis of women in the Indian parliament. It explores the possibilities and limits of parliamentary democracy and the participation of women in its institutional performances.
Offering a new, multi-method analysis of the gendered nature of India's parliament through an examination of electoral data, media reports and life stories of women Members of Parliament it sheds light on the performance, aesthetics, and norms of parliamentary life. It explores how the gendered axis of power underpins the performance of parliament and its Members as well as the political economy in which they are embedded. The book makes a strong case for taking parliamentary politics seriously in these times of populism, without either a utopian framing of women MPs as challengers of masculinised institutional politics or seeing them simply as docile actors in a gendered institution.
Performing Representation raises critical questions about the politics of difference, claim-making, representation and intersectionality. It addresses these questions as part of global feminist debates on the importance of the women's representation in political institutions.
Offering a new, multi-method analysis of the gendered nature of India's parliament through an examination of electoral data, media reports and life stories of women Members of Parliament it sheds light on the performance, aesthetics, and norms of parliamentary life. It explores how the gendered axis of power underpins the performance of parliament and its Members as well as the political economy in which they are embedded. The book makes a strong case for taking parliamentary politics seriously in these times of populism, without either a utopian framing of women MPs as challengers of masculinised institutional politics or seeing them simply as docile actors in a gendered institution.
Performing Representation raises critical questions about the politics of difference, claim-making, representation and intersectionality. It addresses these questions as part of global feminist debates on the importance of the women's representation in political institutions.
Reviews / Votes
India - the most populous democracy in the world - has just 64 women in the Lok Sabha (lower house of parliament), ranking 149th worldwide in this regard. Why? This terrific new study by Shirin Rai and Carole Spary provides fresh insights into issues of representation and representativeness, gender and power, and the role of women in parliament - both within India and more broadly. Drawing upon qualitative and quantitative evidence, this book provides an essential contribution towards the literature on women in politics. * Pippa Norris, Professor, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University * This book certainly goes a long way in providing an insightful study of women who have successfully become Members of Parliament. It tells much that is of great interest about the ways in which they navigate their way to electoral success and also about their experiences in what is still a bastion of patriarchy - the party system. It is this important characteristic that is the main reason for the very limited numbers of women MPs that have never gone much beyond 12% of the total. * Subhashini Ali, Former Member, Indian Parliament; President, All India Democratic Women's Association; Member, Communist Party of India. * This complete guide to women's presence and performance in India's Parliament is a must read for anyone interested in gender and politics. Fascinating stories and critical analysis illuminate the multiple challenges women face in every dimension of their parliamentary politics/life. * Niraja Gopal Jayal, professor, Centre for the Study of Law and Governance, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New Delhi
India
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 221 mm
Width: 147 mm
Thickness: 28 mm
Weight
544 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-948905-3 (9780199489053)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
10/2018
1st Edition
OUP
€52.78
Available for download
Persons
Shirin M. Rai is Professor in the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick, UK. She has written extensively on issues of gender, governance and development in academic journals and her latest books include New Frontiers in Feminist Political Economy ; Democracy in Practice: Ceremony and Ritual in Parliament (ed.), and The Grammar of Politics and Performance (eds. with Janelle Reinelt). She has consulted with the United Nations' Division for the Advancement of Women and UNDP. She is a founder member of the South Asia Research Network on Gender, Law and Governance, and she was Director of the Leverhulme Trust programme on Gendered Ceremony and Ritual in Parliament (2007-2011). She is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and an executive committee member of the International Political Science Association. She has also been a Visiting Professorial Fellow at the Gender Institute, London School of Economics (2012 -2015).
Carole Spary is Assistant Professor at the School of Politics and International Relations, University of Nottingham, UK. Prior to this she was Lecturer in Politics at the University of York (2011-2014) and Leverhulme Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Warwick (2008-2011). She has published on democratic politics and development, particularly gender, development, political representation and political institutions in India, including journal articles on women's political leadership in India and candidate nomination in elections, a comparative study of first female Speakers, and on disruption and ethno-linguistic representation in the Indian parliament. She has also written on gender, development and the state in India, and she teaches on gender and development and Asian politics. She has guest edited two special issues of the journals Democratisation and Contemporary South Asia.
Carole Spary is Assistant Professor at the School of Politics and International Relations, University of Nottingham, UK. Prior to this she was Lecturer in Politics at the University of York (2011-2014) and Leverhulme Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Warwick (2008-2011). She has published on democratic politics and development, particularly gender, development, political representation and political institutions in India, including journal articles on women's political leadership in India and candidate nomination in elections, a comparative study of first female Speakers, and on disruption and ethno-linguistic representation in the Indian parliament. She has also written on gender, development and the state in India, and she teaches on gender and development and Asian politics. She has guest edited two special issues of the journals Democratisation and Contemporary South Asia.
Content
List of Tables and Figures
Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
1: The Making of Parliament as a Gendered Site of Representation
2: Routes to Parliament: Narratives of Political Access
3: Contesting Elections: Women's Candidacy for the Lok Sabha
4: Representative Women?: Presence and Performance of Intersectionality
5: Performing Representation: Women MPs in Parliamentary Debates
6: The Politics of Presence: The Parliamentary Committee for the Empowerment of Women
7: Follow the Money: Expenses and Expenditure
8: Women MPs: Leaders or Servants of the People?
9: Sustaining Participation
Conclusion
Bibiliography
Index
About the authors
Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
1: The Making of Parliament as a Gendered Site of Representation
2: Routes to Parliament: Narratives of Political Access
3: Contesting Elections: Women's Candidacy for the Lok Sabha
4: Representative Women?: Presence and Performance of Intersectionality
5: Performing Representation: Women MPs in Parliamentary Debates
6: The Politics of Presence: The Parliamentary Committee for the Empowerment of Women
7: Follow the Money: Expenses and Expenditure
8: Women MPs: Leaders or Servants of the People?
9: Sustaining Participation
Conclusion
Bibiliography
Index
About the authors