Since the 1990s there has been a proliferation of specialised parliamentary bodies with a role in promoting gender equality. Their effectiveness can be assessed from a variety of perspectives. From one perspective they can be seen as part of the formal gender equality architecture of government and assessed accordingly. From another perspective they can be assessed on their contribution to the effective functioning of parliaments, through improving awareness of the gender implications of legislative proposals, promoting cross-party collaboration and strengthening linkages with civil society. From a third perspective they can be seen as helping to empower individual women MPs and increase their effectiveness, through providing networks, information-sharing and mentoring.
The fourth perspective, which is the subject of this paper, is the role of specialised parliamentary bodies as part of the repertoire of contemporary women’s movements and as a base for critical actors in promoting feminist values. In the past, feminist scholarship often privileged autonomous forms of women’s movement organising over feminist institution-building within existing political and governance institutions. The latter was judged to contribute to the deradicalisation of the women’s movement and the ending of its transformative potential. In line with some recent theorising, this paper will warn against a priori judgements about the nature of feminist advocacy and institution-building within mainstream institutions. In particular it will build on recent scholarship around the role of ‘insiders’ and women’s policy agencies and extend it to feminist institution-building within parliaments.
