Section outline



    • TOPIC 8 - Overview                                                                                                                             

      Lecture: 22 March (week 9)
      Seminar: 4-5 April (week 11)


      U.S. Representatives Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Ilhan Abdullahi Omar (D-MN), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) hold a press conference. (Getty Images)


      In this week's lecture we consider the relationship between who our politicians are and what they do.  We explore the relationship between descriptive, substantive and symbolic representation and the ways in which each of these is compromised by gender imbalances.  We also consider what constitute "women's interests".  These concepts are all key to understanding the representational consequences of gender imbalances in politics. By the end of the topic, you should be able to:

      • Explain the relationship between representation and gender
      • Consider questions about presence and interests

    • Lecture Slides Topic 8 File

      These are the powerpoint slides for the lecture on topic 8 - Representation

      14.0 MB
    • Women in Politics 2023 Map - UN Women and UPU File
      191.4 KB

    • TOPIC 8 - Seminar Preparation                                                                                                    

      Preparation for the seminar

      1) Attend and take notes on the lecture. 

      2) Read and take notes on the following core readings:

      3 ) Finally, feel free to also read and take notes on the following additional reading for the topic:

      Seminar discussion

      1) General discussion (in pairs and then as a plenary). What is your assessment of representation in politics, from a gender perspective? Think of a specific case and try to explain what you mean when you use the term representation. 

      What are some of the issues we have identified?

      2) In groups, answer the following questions drawing from this week's core readings (Mansbridge and Puwar).

      • How relevant are people’s socio-demographic backgrounds to their representative functions? 
      • What are the costs and benefits of descriptive representation?

      Seminar discussions (Alaya's groups only)

      1) Define the following terms and give an example for each of these: 

      • Representation
      • Political representation
      • Descriptive representation
      • Substantive representation
      • Symbolic representation


      2) What the following video of Dawn Butler MP (Labour) calling for 'decolonisation' of the national curriculum in a Black History Month debate (20 October 2020) and her exchange with Kemi Badenoch MP (Conservative, here acting as a spokesperson for government).



      • Whose interest are being represented?
      • To what extend does this support the argument made by Jane Mansbrige for a "contingent yes" to descriptive representation?
      • Consider the points raised by Nirmal Puwar in her article "Thinking of Making a Difference": what can we say about the space and the way that representation is performed?

      For the Hansard transcript of the entire debate, click here. 


    • TOPIC 8 - Supplementary Reading

      Hanna Pitkin (1967) The Concept of Representation. University of California Press. Print book available at QMUL Library.

      Irene Diamond and Nancy Hartsock (1981) Beyond Interests in Politics: A comment on Virginia Sapiro’s ‘When are Interests Interesting?’ American Political Science Review 75(3), pp. 717-2.

      Drude Dahlerup (1988) From a small to a large majority: Women in Scandinavian politics, Scandinavian Political Studies 11(4), pp. 275-298.

      Anne Phillips (1991) Engendering Democracy. Cambridge: Polity Press. Print book at QMUL Library.

      Anne Phillips (1995) The Politics of Presence. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

      Judith Squires (1999) “Representation,” in Gender in Political Theory. Cambridge: Polity Press. Print copy available at QMUL Library.

      Suzanne Dovi (2002) Preferable Descriptive Representatives: Will Just Any Woman, Black, or Latino Do? American Political Science Review 96(4), pp. 729-743.

      Pamela Paxton (2003) Women’s Political Representation: The Importance of Ideology. Social Forces 82 (1), pp.87-113.

      Robert Goodin (2004) Representing Diversity. British Journal of Political Science 34, pp. 453-469.

      Jennifer L. Lawless (2004) Politics of Presence? Congresswomen and Symbolic Representation. Political Research Quarterly 57(1): 81-99.

      Michael A. Messner (2004) On Patriarchs and Losers: Rethinking Men's Interests. Berkeley Journal of Sociology 48, pp. 74-88.

      Nirmal Puwar (2004) Space Invaders: Race, Gender and Bodies Out of Place. Oxford: Berg. 

      Wendy Stokes (2005) Women in Contemporary Politics. Cambridge: Polity Press. Print copy available at QMUL Library.

      Joni Lovenduski (2005) Feminizing Politics. Cambridge: Polity Press. Print copy available at QMUL Library.

      Leslie A. Schwindt-Bayer and William Mishler (2005) An integrated model of women's representation. The Journal of Politics 67(2), pp. 407-428. 

      Anne Stevens (2007) Women, Power and Politics. Palgrave Macmillan. Print copy available at QMUL Library.

      Suzanne Dovi (2007) Theorizing Women’s Representation in the United States, Politics and Gender 3(3), pp. 297-319.

      Karen Celis, Sarah Childs, Johanna Kantola, and Mona Lena Krook (2008) Rethinking Women’s Substantive Representation, Representation 44(2), pp. 99-110.

      Sarah Childs (2008) Women and British Party Politics: Descriptive, Substantive and Symbolic Representation. London: Routledge. 

      Mona Lena Krook and Sarah Childs (Eds.) (2010) Women, Gender and Politics: A Reader. Oxford University Press. Print copy available at QMUL Library.

      Jennifer M. Piscopo (2011) Rethinking Women’s Descriptive Representation: Rendering Women in Legislative Debates. Parliamentary Affairs 64(3), pp. 448-472.

      Karen Celis and Sarah Childs (2020) Feminist Democratic Representation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

      Farah Hussain (2021) Inconvenient voices: Muslim women in the Labour Party. Renewal: A Journal of Social Democracy 29/1.