More information: Call for joining the new working group

Scope: Both politics as an actual phenomenon with tangible consequences and Political Science as an academic discipline are gendered. In the landscape of Swiss academia, however, scholars focusing on either remain a minority and are rarely visible. The core aim of this working group is to establish a network between scholars who work at the intersection of gender and the broadly defined field of political science, including its major subfields of international relations, domestic (Swiss) politics, political theory, research methods, and public policy.

Aim: Together we want to foster academic exchange and peer support in order to increase the visibility of Feminist Political Science and to accelerate its progress and recognition. We plan to do this through different formats. We intend to meet regularly to discuss our research, the first culmination of which shall be a two-day workshop (probably in autumn 2022) where each participant will present a paper and enjoy feedback from an assigned in-group peer-reviewer. Over time, we would also like to submit panel proposals to conferences such as the annual conference of the Swiss Political Science Association or the European Conference of Politics and Gender.

Co-coordination: The working group is co-coordinated by Dr. Leandra Bias (senior researcher, swisspeace/University of Basel) and Dr. Elizabeth Mesok (SNF Prima Fellow, University of Basel).

Scholarship: non-exhaustive list of scholarship we would be particularly interested in: 

• Critical studies that rethink the boundaries, analytical categories, conventional research methods and onto-epistemological premises of Political Science.
• Approaches that show how sexuality and gender identity are the subject of domestic “culture wars” and international diplomatic contention.
• Scholarship on gender equality norms, the advocacy for, manipulation of and repression against them, from the global to the local level.
• Research on feminist social movements and contestation politics, from historical, comparative and contemporary perspectives.
• Exploration of discriminatory mechanisms in political participation as well as how policies reify inequalities. 
• Investigations into the role of gender in the management of populations through public policy and administration.
• Critical approaches to security, militarism and war and peace from a feminist perspective
• Non-Western and post-colonial research that decentres existing theorising about politics and showcases alternative forms of knowledge and political practice.
• Research following an intersectional and interdisciplinary vocation.

Membership: To become a member, please write a 200-words abstract of your research and tell us about three objectives you would like to achieve with your membership. This will help us steer the scope and format of the group. We welcome submissions from PhD candidates to tenured professors and accept them on a rolling basis. Please email Leandra Bias or Elizabeth Mesok – or both together. Please note, that membership is free of charge, but you will have to become a member of the Swiss Association for Gender Studies if you are not already.

Picture: Giacomo Ferroni (unsplash)