Altering the Arena: The Gender Equality-Democracy Nexus Contested

Gender and politics scholars have long argued that the quality of democracy depends on a country’s achievements in relation to gender and sexual equality. Vice versa, gender and sexual equality was assumed to need democratic values and institutions to flourish. But, how important is democracy for achieving gender and sexual equality and how important is gender and sexual equality as a yardstick for democracy? Has democracy delivered on its equality promise, or has it “failed women” (Dahlerup 2018) and other disadvantaged groups? The taken-for-grantedness of a mutually positive relationship and conditionality between democracy and gender and sexual equality needs further investigation for several reasons and our Section invites Papers engaging from different angles with multifold aspects. First of all, the gender equality-democracy nexus seemed to be part of a standard package of liberal democracy, human rights, market economy and good governance associated with progress for the benefit of all. Yet, a salient question is whether this nexus ever was straightforward, let alone who the ‘all’ are it was supposed to be beneficial for. This extends to the more recent dismantling of welfare states and austerity measures. To which extent can democracies deliver on their promise to guarantee social justice? What are effective strategies for feminist and equality activists in dealing with different democratic crises (broadly defined)? Second, this nexus has been put under strain in the current climate of crisis – or crises – of democracy. In some countries which previously were considered liberal democracies, illiberal democracy is on the rise. This development often goes hand in hand with numerous forms of opposition to gender and sexual equality, challenging a certain idea of gender equality and reframing it as family policy. These processes of contestation are also visible in some countries which do not belong to the ‘club of liberal democracies’, but clearly also develop forms of gender and sexual equality governance. Next to democracies, non-democratic regimes govern a considerable amount of states and some states are in transition between different kinds of regimes. For instance, the Arab Spring brought hope for democratic innovations and thus also for gender and sexuality rights. What do we learn from studying gender and sexuality rights in non-democratic regimes and states in transition for the global context? How can institutions and processes be reformed and innovated so that they allow for promoting gender and sexual equality? Third, representative democracy, a terrain where considerable progress has been made in recent years in terms of representation of women and other underrepresented groups, still brings uncertain gains for women. Strategies such as gender quotas, gender mainstreaming and gender budgeting do not always bring expected results. The question, who benefits, or for whom democracy is actually ‘good’ thus has never had a simple answer: Which societal groups benefit more and which are still disadvantaged? How would actors and institutions need to change to promote full equality as regards gender, sexuality and intersectional perspectives? Fourth, as to alternatives – found in participatory and deliberative democracy – it has been argued that they are more inclusive in gendered terms, but it remains unclear whether they can actually deliver on that promise. What do different forms of democracy, including representative, participatory, and deliberative democracy, bring for gender and sexual equality? Simultaneously, democratic decision-making has been undermined by ‘outsourcing’ it to expert bodies, closed forums, and new informal settings – a kind of technocratic democracy. What does this mean as regards representing and translating societal diversity and thus also intersectional aspects into policy-making? The Section invites scholars to submit contributions that tackle one or more of the issues described above, either from a theoretical, methodological, empirical or normative perspective. We seek Papers engaging with the multiple questions on the intricate connection between gender equality and democracy covering different policies, levels of governance (international, supranational, regional, local), and venues (governments, parliaments, civil society, interest groups, expert bodies, international organizations). We welcome Papers and full Panel proposals using a variety of methods and data, including quantitative large N methods, comparative studies, experimental research, digital methods, qualitative in-depth studies, grounded theory as well as other innovative approaches. Our Section aims at ensuring the participation of scholars at different career stages, of different backgrounds and from different regions among paper-givers, Chairs, and Discussants.