Women and Politics Course Number 200.56/218.00 Sections: 001 and 051 Spring Semester, 1992 Hunter College Instructor: Barbara Crow Office hours: Thursday 2:30 to 3:30p.m. 4:30 to 5:30p.m. or by appointment. Office number: HW1737 Telephone: 772-5680 e-mail: crow@zodiac.rutgers.edu (Internet) As in most fields of study, the types of research and the ways of approaching the study of women and politics are informed by particular assumptions about that study. The aim of this course is to expose students not only to contemporary research within the field, but also to current theoretical debates about feminism and politics. The course begins with a discussion of the construction of gender within classical texts of political theory. It then turns to a critical analysis of conventional explanations of women's political role within western liberal democracy, including the behaviour- socialization approach and the political participation literature. We will examine the way in which feminist theory has challenged the narrow and limited focus of these perspectives and engage in a discussion of the central theoretical questions of feminist theory and how they can inform the study of women and politics. In addition to scrutinizing the way in which the women's movement and feminism have challenged the study of politics, we will also discuss the way in which feminism has itself been challenged. The remainder of the course will cover several broad themes including: an analysis of second wave feminism as a political movement; an analysis of feminist debates around a number of central issues (race, sexual orientation, reproductive technology and sexual harassment); an analysis of the implications of neo-conservatism and anti-feminism for feminist politics; and a discussion of feminist engagement in politics. COURSE REQUIREMENTS Since this is an intensive class, regular class attendance and participation is expected. The course is designed as a seminar, therefore each student will be responsible for reading the assignments thoroughly and being prepared to discuss, bringing questions and challenging issues brought forth in the readings. Specific requirements are addressed below. STUDENT FACILITATORS Each student will be assigned a week (with other students) where they are responsible for providing questions to stimulate and focus class discussion. The student facilitators are responsible for leading class discussion and facilitating the discussion with questions. Facilitators should come to class with type-written questions (approximately 5-8) to hand out to the class. ASSIGNMENTS You will be graded on two essays, a take home examination and class participation. Assignments will be handed out in class at least four weeks prior to the due dates listed below. GRADE DISTRIBUTION Due date First assignment: 20% March 19, 1992 Second Assignment: 35% April 30, 1992 Final take home examination: 30% May 28, 1992 Class participation: 15% REQUIRED TEXTS Ann Bookman and Sandra Morgen, eds., Women and the Politics of Empowerment, PA: Temple University Press, 1988. Anne Witte Garland, Women Activists Challenging the Abuse of Power, NY: The Feminist Press, 1988. Susan M. Hartmann, From Margin to Mainstream: American Woman and Politics since 1960, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. 1989. Textbooks, articles and supplementary readings are on reserve at the Hunter College Library and the Women's Studies Library and Resource Center Room 1736 West. Section One: The Construction of "Woman" in Western Liberal Democratic Theory Week one - February 3 Monday/Tuesday: Introduction - What is Politics? Thursday: Bookman and Morgen. "Rethinking Women and Politics: An Introductory Essay," pp. 3-32. Week two - February 10 Political Theory continued Monday/Tuesday: Alice. S. Rossi, "Prestige from the Other Sex: John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)," The Feminist Papers: From Adams to deBeauvoir, ed., Alice S. Rossi, NY: Bantam Press, 1973, pp. 183-238. Thursday: Mary Lyndon Shanely, "Marital Slavery and Friendship: John Stuart Mill's The Subjection of Women," in M. Shanley and C. Pateman, eds., Feminist Interpretations and Political Theory, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1991, pp. 164-180. Section Two: The Study of Women's Participation in Electoral Politics Week three - February 17 Monday/Tuesday: Susan Bourque and J. Grossholtz, "Politics and Unnatural Practice: Political Science looks at Women's Participation," in Janet Siltanen and Michelle Stanworth, eds., Women and the Public Sphere: A Critique of Sociology and Politics, London, England: Hutchinson, 1984, pp. 103-121. Thursday: Video: Not One of the Boys Chapter four, Hartmann. "A New Presence in Mainstream Politics." Week four - February 24 Women's Participation in Electoral Politics continued Monday/Tuesday: The Center for the American Woman and Politics (CAWP), The Impact of Women in Public Office: Findings at a Glance, NJ: Rutgers University, 1991. The Center for the American Woman and Politics, The Impact of Women in Public Office: An Overview, NJ: Rutgers University, 1991. Thursday: Luis Ricardo Fraga, "Latinos in State Elective Office: Progressive Inclusion in Critical Perspective," in Women, Black, and Hispanic State Elected Leaders: The 1990 Symposium on the State of States, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1991, pp. 93-104. Georgia Persons, "Blacks in State Elective Office: The Continuing Quest for Effective Representation, " in Women, Black, and Hispanic State Elected Leaders: The 1990 Symposium on the State of States, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1991, pp. 75-92. Section Three: The Women's Movement Week five - March 2 First Wave Feminism Monday/Tuesday: Chapter one, Hartmann. "After Suffrage: New Opportunities and Old Obstacles." Thursday: Suzanne Lebsock, "Women and American Politics, 1880-1920," in Louise A. Tilly and Patricia Gurin, eds., Women, Politics and Change, NY: Russell Sage Foundation, 1990, pp. 35-62. Week six - March 9 Second Wave Feminism Monday/Tuesday: Chapter two and three, Hartmann. "Women in Grass- roots Movements of the 1960s" and "Origins and Politics of the New Feminism." Thursday: Guest Lecturer, Susana Fried from the Center for Global Issues and Women's Leadership, "Global Feminism." Charlotte Bunch, "Bringing the Global Home," Passionate Politics: Feminist Theory in Action, NY: St. Martin's Press, 1987, pp. 328-345. Cynthia Enloe, "Gender Makes the World Go Around," Bananas, Beaches and Bases: Making Feminist Sense of International Politics, CA: University of California Press, 1989, pp. 1-18. Week seven - March 16 Profiles of Women Activists Anne Garland, Women Activists, This week's reading assignment to be discussed in class. Library Tour: Polly Thistlewaite March 19: FIRST ASSIGNMENT DUE Section Four: Feminism's Political Agenda Week eight - March 23 Women's participation in the labour movement and trade unionism Video: Salt of the Earth Monday/Tuesday: Bookman and Morgen. Ida Susser, "Working-Class Women, Social Protest, and Changing Ideologies," pp. 257-271. Thursday: Bookman and Morgen. Ann Bookman, "Unionization in an Electronics Factory: The Interplay of Gender, Ethnicity and Class," pp. 159-179. Bookman and Morgen. Patricia Zavella, "The Politics of Race and Gender: Organizing Chicana Cannery Workers in Northern California," pp. 202-226. Week nine - March 30 Race and Ethnicity Monday/Tuesday: bell hooks, "Sisterhood: Political Solidarity between Women," in A Reader in Feminist Knowledge, ed. Sneja Gunew, NY: Routledge, 1991, pp. 27-41. Marilyn Frye, "On Being White: Toward a Feminist Understanding of Race and Race Supremacy," in The Politics of Reality: Essays in Feminist Theory, CA: Crossing Press, 1983, pp. 110-127. Thursday: Audre Lorde, Sister Outsider, pp. TBA. Cherrie Moraga, in Cherrie Moraga and Gloria Anzaldua, eds. This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color, Watertown, MA: Persephone Press, 1981, pp. TBA. Week ten - April 6 Sexuality Monday/Tuesday: Adrienne Rich, "Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence," in A. Snitow et al, eds., Powers of Desire: The Politics of Sexuality, NY: Monthly Review Press, 1983, pp. 177-205. Thursday: Guest Lecturer, Kathleen Casey Rutgers University, "The institution of heterosexuality." Diana Fuss, "Lesbian and Gay Theory: The Question of Identity Politics," Essentially Speaking: Feminism, Nature and Difference, NY: Routledge, pp. 97-112. Cheryl Clarke, "Lesbianism: An Act of Resistance" in Cherrie Moraga and Gloria Anzaldua, eds. This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color, Watertown, MA: Persephone Press, 1981, pp. 128-137. Week eleven - April 13 Reproductive Technology Monday/Tuesday: Video - "The Strange Case of Baby S/M" by Martha Rosler and Paper Tiger. Thursday: Laura Nsiah-Jefferson, "Reproductive Laws, Women of Color, and Low-Income Women," in S. Cohen and N. Taub, eds., Reproductive Laws for the 90s, NJ: Humana Press, pp. Debate: Be it resolved that the development and use of reproductive technology be banned in the state of New York. Week twelve - April 20 SPRING BREAK Week thirteen - April 27 Sexual Harassment Monday/Tuesday: Video: Panel discussion with Kimberle Crenshaw, Anita Hill, Deborah Rhode and Susan Deller Ross. "Refusing to be Silenced," Commentary on the Hill/Thomas debates by Patricia J. Williams, Barbara Smith, Rebecca Walker, Marcia Ann Gillespie and Eleanor Holmes Norton, Ms. Magazine, Vol. 11, No. 4, 1992, pp. 34-45. Also in this issue of Ms. is a summary of Anita Hill's talk that you will see on the video. See pp. 32-33. Thursday: Catharine MacKinnon, "Sexual Harassment: Its First Decade in Court," in Feminism Unmodified: Discourses on Life and Law, MA: Harvard University Press, 1987, pp. 103-116. SECOND ASSIGNMENT DUE Week fourteen - May 4 Anti-feminism and Neo-conservatism Monday/Tuesday: Chapter six, Hartmann. "The Politics of Anti- Feminism." Thursday: Rebecca Klatch, "The Two Worlds of Women of the New Right," in Louise A. Tilly and Patricia Gurin, eds., Women, Politics and Change, NY: Russell Sage Foundation, 1990, pp. 529-552. Section Five: Conclusion: The Feminist Challenge to Politics Week fifteen - May 11 Redefining the Political Monday/Tuesday: Bookman and Morgen. Martha Ackelsberg, "Communities, Resistance, and Women's Activism: Some Implications for a Democratic Polity," pp. 297-313. Thursday: bell hooks and Cornel West, Breaking Bread: Insurgent Black Intellectual Life, Boston, MA: South End Press, 1991, pp. 7-20. Week sixteen - May 18 Review: Preparation for take home examination Monday/Tuesday: Chapter seven, Hartmann. "The 1980s: Challenges and Changes." Thursday: Final review Week seventeen - May 25 LAST WEEK OF CLASSES, TAKE HOME EXAMINATIONS DUE MAY 28. Please note - After teaching the course this past semester, I found that some articles worked better than others. If I were to do it again, I would eliminate the Fuss article - it was much too difficult for the class especially the younger students in the morning - and the articles by Fraga and Persons. I have a number of mainstream articles on African-American and Hispanic women's particpation in electoral politics that I will use instead next time. I would also develop a more international perspective. I gave one lecture on women's participation in electoral politics around the world. In the fall, I intend assigning each student the responsibity for covering women's political participation in one country - both electoral and non-electoral participation - and then have them report back to the class. I might even try some kind of U.N. simulation - but I have to think this one out. And finally, one of the assignments will include students to research and interview an elected representative from the local, state or federal level and access their records on race and gender. I'd be interested in any comments or suggestions. Crow@zodiac.rutgers.edu WOMEN AND POLITICS First Paper Assignment For this assignment you are to examine all articles on women and gender published in six political science journals during the years 1978, 1988 and 1991. American Political Science Review American Journal of Political Science Journal of Politics Polity The choice of the other two journal is yours with the sole restriction that these two journal should be selected from a single subfield of political science (e.g. American politics, political behaviour, political philosophy, international relations, political economy) of interest to you. Based on your examination of these journals, you are to write an essay analyzing the state of gender-related research in political science. This 6-8 page essay can be structured in whatever way seems most appropriate to you, I would like the essay to consider the following questions: (1) Has there been a change in the amount and nature of research on gender published in the past decade? (2) Can you draw any conclusion about the kinds of articles on gender that seem to get published or the types of journals that seem more or less receptive to work on gender? (3) Do journals in your chosen subfield seem more or less predisposed than the more general political science journals to publish work on gender? (4) Are there any recurrent themes or issues that emerge in the published research? (5) Why do you think so little or so much has been published on gender in these journals? For second year or first year students, I would assign that they consult only three journals instead of six. I got this assignment from Professor S. Carroll at Rutgers University. CRITICAL REVIEW This project is a critical review of three of the articles that have been covered in class up until March 19, 1992. The review should be 6-8 typed pages. Material to be considered in your review: 1. Brief summary statement of subject covered. 2. What is the author's stated purpose--is it accomplished? 3. What is the author's method of analysis? -- how does the author explain cause and effect, or is it explained, is there detectable and/or influential bias present in the writing, is there no analysis (i.e. simply descriptive and narrative)? 4. What are the major questions raised -- are these answered adequately? Are there others that should be included? 5. You may comment on style if it is unusually good or bad. 6. What sources are used, footnotes? bibliography? 7. How would you assess the overall contribution of this work to your understanding of the issues? Some words of caution 1. This is a critical review -- i.e., you are not describing content; content is used only to illustrate your analysis. 2. You cannot fault the work because it is not the articles you would have written. Your critique must operate within the confines of the author's expressed purpose, though you might question the initial purpose itself. 3. It might help you to look at reviews in some of the major journals; in fact, you might even find earlier reviews of the work you are considering, then you may include the point of view of those other reviewers. You have the option of reviewing each of the articles separately (2-3 typed pages per article) or comparing and contrasting them in one review. You are more than welcome to critically review the book Women Activists by Anne Witte Garland. FIRST ASSIGNMENT DUE: MARCH 19, 1992 ASSIGNMENT NUMBER TWO (35%) DUE DATE: APRIL 30, 1992 10 - 15 typed pages The object of your second assignment is to write an analytic paper which addresses an important question in the area of women and politics. This will be an opportunity for you to explore a topic on women's political participation in-depth. In writing this paper it is crucial that you clearly state a thesis at the outset and attempt to develop this thesis in the essay that follows. Each of the assignment questions asks you to evaluate a premise; be sure that you address the question. Be careful not to simply reproduce the arguments made in the sources you consult. At this stage, you should be able to develop an argument that synthesizes and builds upon the work of others. Proper footnote style and bibliography are required. Please consult the handout on writing an argumentative essay attached to this assignment. Make sure you get an early start on this assignment! Legitimate requests for an extension may be considered, though they are to be made well in advance of the deadline. Otherwise, late papers will be docked one grade per class. If you would like to submit your assignment early, I will make every effort to return it to you quickly. Essay Topics/Questions: 1. Are women's issues and/or gender related topics represented in the print media's coverage of the presidential primaries? Follow the daily coverage of the presidential Democratic and Republican primaries in two mainstream newspapers (The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, The L.A. Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post) and one alternative newspaper (The Amsterdam News, El Diario, ) for four weeks. Keep track of any discussion or mention of women, women's issues, and/or gender-related topics. Upon completing your observations of the newspaper coverage of the primaries, analyze your findings. You should consider some of the following questions in your analysis: How much discussion was there on these issues in the press? Was there any difference in the coverage between the mainstream and alternative press? What kinds of women's issues did they focus on? What is your assessment of the kind of coverage given to women's issues during the primaries? 2. Using Anne Witte Garland's book Women Activists as a resource to profile a female political activist. This will require at a minimum: an interview with the activist; a profile of the activist and the organization(s) she is involved with; and an assessment of the activist's work. THIS REQUIRES A WRITTEN PROPOSAL AND THE APPROVAL OF THE INSTRUCTOR. 3. African-American feminists like bell hooks argue that feminism has ignored, devalued and made invisible women of colour. It could be argued that white middle class feminism privileges a certain group of people and perspective, just like traditional malestream political theory. How has feminism privileged a certain group? What have been the implications of this privileging? How can we develop an anti-racist feminism? 4. Adrienne Rich in "Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence" argues that heterosexuality has been institutionalized. Discuss and analyze the importance of the concept of institutionalized heterosexuality for feminist theory and practice. 5. Liberal democratic theory has played a critical role in informing our understanding of equality in western societies. However, it has been plagued with dualisms that have operated to discourage women's participation in politics and men's participation in the family. Critically analyze the ways in which liberal democratic theory has perpetuated these dualisms. 6. Anti-feminism has achieved a popular following and a measure of political power because it is a response to real social conditions and deep-lying fears (Petchesky 1985). Discuss anti-feminism in the United States, referring to the social composition of the movement, its ideological message and factors which explain its emergence and its salience for certain women. 7. In the last two decades, American women's participation in electoral politics has increased from 4% to 15% at the municipal level, from 10% to 18% at the state level and from 4% to 6% at the national level of elected office (1991). What explanations can you provide for the variation in the success rates of women at the municipal, state and national levels of elected office? 8. Topic of your choice - THIS REQUIRES A WRITTEN PROPOSAL AND THE APPROVAL OF THE INSTRUCTOR. GROUND RULES FOR CLASS DISCUSSION 1. Acknowledge that oppression (i.e. racism, sexism, classism) exists. 2. Acknowledge that one of the mechanisms of oppression (i.e. racism, sexism, classism, heterosexism) is that we are all systematically taught misinformation about our own groups and about members of both dominant and subordinate groups. 3. Agree not to blame ourselves or others for the misinformation we have learned in the past, but accept responsibility for not repeating misinformation after we have learned otherwise. 4. Agree not to blame victims for their oppression. 5. Assume that people (both the groups we study and the members of the class) always do the best they can. 6. Actively pursue information about our own groups and those of others. 7. Share information about our groups with other members of the class and never demean, devalue, or in any way "put down" people for their experience. 8. Agree to actively combat the myths and stereotypes about our own groups and other groups so that we can break down the walls which prohibit group co-operation and group gain. 9. Create a safe atmosphere for open discussion. If members of the class wish to make comments that they do not want repeated outside the classroom, they can preface their remarks with a request and the class will agree not to repeat remarks. The first day of class will focus on a discussion of these ground rules, altering them wherever necessary. I received this from a friend - I do not know its source.