The Future of Representative Democracy by Sonia Alonso & John Keane & Wolfgang Merkel

Author:Sonia Alonso & John Keane & Wolfgang Merkel [Alonso, Sonia]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781139074049
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2011-05-04T04:00:00+00:00

The long march into institutions

It is significant that in contemporary society, the strong critique of male-dominated political institutions is combined with increased interest by a broad spectrum of women’s organisations in participation in formal political institutions. In contrast, the vehement critique of ‘the patriarchal and capitalist state’ put forward by the radical and leftist Women’s Liberation Movement from the 1960s to the 1980s – in line with the overall position of the New Left – implied a rejection of parliamentary politics in favour of outside or anti-parliamentary actions and direct democracy.

A closer look reveals that during the 1980s and 1990s, declarations adopted by the UN increasingly used the language of the Women’s Liberation Movement of the 1960s to the 1980s, although in modified form. ‘Discrimination’ became common in the international vocabulary as well as the concepts of ‘exclusion’ and ‘lack of inclusiveness’ (though not ‘oppression’!). These concepts then worked their way into documents adopted by the governments of the world. The strong feminist mobilisation of the 1960s to the 1980s no doubt indirectly paved the way for later demands for affirmative action and gender equality policies in general (McBride and Mazur 1995). Devaki Jain writes about the spirit of the 1995 Beijing conference:

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