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Women and Democratization Conceptualizing Gender Relations in Transition Politics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2011

Georgina Waylen
Georgina Waylen
Affiliation:
University of Salford
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Abstract

This article examines the impact of gender relations on democratization. It considers a number of key questions: what role do women's movements play in the transition to democratic rule and what impact does a return to competitive electoral politics have on women and women's movements. The starting point is a critique of the existing literature on democratization. That literature cannot provide a satisfactory analysis of the role of women in transition politics because of the narrow definitions of democracy used and the top-down focus of much of it. The article then develops a gendered analysis through a comparison of the different processes of transition in Latin America and Central and Eastern Europe. It highlights the significance of the relationship between civil society and the state and the existence of “political space.”

Type
Research Article
Information
World Politics , Volume 46 , Issue 3 , April 1994 , pp. 327 - 354
Copyright
Copyright © Trustees of Princeton University 1994

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References

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