ECPR Joint Sessions in Edinburgh
Explorations of a new feminist institutionalism emerged during the 2003 ECPR Joint Sessions held in Edinburgh. These built upon earlier calls by gender and politics pioneers like Joni Lovenduski (1998), Mary Katzenstein (1998) and emerging work by Louise Chappell (2002) and Laurel Weldon (2002) for feminist political scientists to engage with the institutional turn in politics. Discussion centred on institutional change, challenging our conception of gender relations, with Fiona Mackay (Edinburgh) and Petra Meier (then- Vrije Universiteit Brussel) co-convening the panel ‘Changing Constitutions, Building Institutions & (Re)defining Gender Relations’.
FIIN Inaugural Workshop at University of Edinburgh
Scholars from Scotland, England, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands and the United States participated in a workshop at the University of Edinburgh, organised by Fiona Mackay, Mona Krook and Meryl Kenny, inaugurating the newly formed Feminism and Institutionalism International Network (FIIN).
FIIN panel at Manchester Gender Research Network Launch Conference
FIIN co-Directors, Fiona Mackay (Edinburgh) and Meryl Kenny (Edinburgh), co-convened a panel on Feminist Institutionalism at the Gender Research Network Launch Conference, hosted by the University of Manchester. The conference, ‘Engendering Policy and Politics’, was interdisciplinary and featured scholars from across the globe. FIIN members, Joan Grace (Winnipeg) and Meryl Kenny (Edinburgh), presented papers, along with Professor Marie Campbell (University of Victoria).
FIIN panel at ECPR General Conference, Pisa
FIIN co-directors, Mona Lena Krook (Washington University, St Louis) and Fiona Mackay (Edinburgh), co-convened a panel entitled ‘Towards a Feminist Institutionalism: Connecting Gender, Power, and Change’ at the 4th ECPR General Conference in Pisa, Italy. FIIN members, Mona Lena Krook (Washington University, St Louis), Lenita Freidenvall (Stockholm), Viola Burau (Aarhus), Marjolein Paantjens (Vrije Universiteit Brussel), presented papers, along with Professor Joyce Gelb (City College, New York). FIIN co-director (then-co-ordinator), Meryl Kenny (Edinburgh), acted as discussant.
Workshop on Feminist Institutionalism at ECPR Joint Sessions, Rennes
FIIN co-directors, Fiona Mackay (Edinburgh) and Mona Lena Krook (Washington University, St Louis), held a successful workshop as part of the ECPR Joint Sessions in Rennes, France. The workshop, entitled ‘Gender, Politics, and Institutions: Towards a Feminist Institutionalism?’, explored the interplay between feminist approaches to gendered institutions and new institutional theory. Both theoretical and empirically-oriented papers were presented. Papers engaged the intersection between feminism and institutionalism, reflecting on the potential and existing limits of institutionalist frameworks for the study of gender and politics.
Louise Chappell and Georgina Waylen become FIIN Co-Directors
Associate Professor Louise Chappell (University of Sydney) and Professor Georgina Waylen, (University of Sheffield) became new co-directors of FIIN. They joined FIIN founders and co-directors Fiona Mackay (Edinburgh) and Mona Lena Krook (Washington University, St Louis) and inaugural network co-ordinator Meryl Kenny (Edinburgh).
First European Conference on Politics and Gender (ECPG) hosts FIIN roundtable in Belfast
The FIIN Roundtable: ‘Feminism and Institutionalism: promising synthesis or another case of “master’s tools”?’ attracted considerable interest at the First European Conference on Politics and Gender (ECPG), with standing room only! FIIN members explored the intersection between feminism and institutionalism, reflecting on the potential for, and limits of institutionalist frameworks for the study of gender and politics.
‘Critical Perspectives on Feminist Institutionalism’ published
An agenda setting collection of essays, ‘Critical Perspectives on Feminist Institutionalism’, was published in the APSA journal, Politics & Gender (edited by Mackay and Waylen). The collection explores the limits and possibilities of the dominant institutionalist approaches.
FIIN Workshop ‘Rethinking the dynamics of Political institutions: integrating gender and neo-institutionalist perspectives in Sydney
Organised by Louise Chappell (UNSW Sydney), Fiona Mackay (Edinburgh) and Georgina Waylen (Manchester), the FIIN network met in Sydney for a workshop entitled ‘Rethinking the dynamics of political institutions: integrating gender and neo-institutionalist perspectives.’ The workshop brought together political and social scientists from North America, UK, Europe and Australia to discuss the prospects for synthesising feminist political science and institutionalist approaches in order to understand the ‘big questions’ of institutional creation, continuity and change.
APSA Short Course at Washington DC
The FIIN network held a short course on ‘Gender and Institutions’ at the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association (APSA), providing scholars from a diverse range of backgrounds with the opportunity for professional development.
FIIN Workshop on the Core Executive and Gender at University of Manchester
With the Gender Research Network and Comparative Public Policy research cluster at the University of Manchester, FIIN co-hosted a one-day workshop. The event facilitated dialogue between scholars of the core executive and comparative feminist political science in order to strengthen and deepen understanding of the gendered dimensions of the core executive and promote comparative research on the topic.
FIIN Panel at PSA Annual Conference in London
A FIIN Panel on ‘The Inner Life of Institutions: Gender, Rules and Informal Practices’ was held at the 2011 UK PSA Annual Conference in London. The session aimed to contribute to debates about the importance of examining everyday rules-in-use and practices within political institutions in order to understand the dynamics of institutional creation, continuity and change.
Presenters included FIIN members Elin Bjarnegård (Uppsala), Louise Chappell (UNSW Sydney), Georgina Waylen, Fiona Mackay (Edinburgh) with Professor Rod Rhodes (Tasmania), Meryl Kenny, and Vivien Lowndes (Nottingham). Dr Francesca Gains (Manchester) acted as chair and discussant.
The foundational text ‘Gender, Politics, and Institutions: Towards a Feminist Institutionalism’ published
The agenda setting collection from FIIN: ‘Gender, Politics, and Institutions: Towards a Feminist Institutionalism’ was published by Palgrave Macmillan. Co-edited by Mona Lena Krook (Washington University in St Louis) and Fiona Mackay (Edinburgh), the ground-breaking collection synthesised new institutionalism and gendered analysis in a new approach: feminist institutionalism, in order to answer crucial questions about power inequalities, mechanisms of continuity, and the gendered limits of change.
ECPR Joint Sessions in Switzerland
FIIN members, Louise Chappell (UNSW) and Petra Meier (University of Antwerp), convened a workshop entitled ‘Feminism and State Architectures: Devolution, Federalism, Regionalism and (Gender) Equality’ at the 2011 ECPR Joint Sessions hosted by St Gallen University, Switzerland. This workshop built on innovative research in the area of feminism and state architectures, asking new questions about whether federalist systems further or frustrate feminist claims through multi-level governance.
CPSA Workshop: Feminism and Institutions
The Women, Gender and Politics section of the Canadian Political Science Association held a successful half-day workshop titled ‘Feminism and Institutions: Theory, Practice and Power’ at Wilfrid Laurier University in Canada.
Georgina Waylen’s European Research Council project
The European Research Council funded Georgina Waylen (Manchester) to undertake a research programme aimed at improving understanding of the gender dynamics of institutional change and reform. The project hosted a number of important workshops and publications, and resulted in the publication of two books: Georgina Waylen (ed) Gender and Informal Institutions Rowman and Littlefield International, 2017; and Georgina Waylen (ed) Gender, Institutions and Change in Bachelet’s Chile Palgrave, 2016.
ECPG hosts FIIN Roundtable ‘Gender and Political Recruitment Revisited’ in Barcelona
FIIN scholars spoke on women’s entry into politics in a roundtable entitled ‘Gender and Political Recruitment Revisited’ at the 3rd European Conference on Politics and Gender (ECPG), hosted by the Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona. FIIN members Georgina Waylen (Manchester), Laura McLeod (Manchester) and Rachel Jonhson (Durham) also gave papers. Georgina’s paper was entitled ‘Informal Institutions, Institutional Change and Gender Equality’. Laura delivered ‘Emotional Futures: Hoping for Female and Feminine Bodies in Post-Conflict Institution Building’; and Laura and Rachel’s jointly authored paper was entitled ‘”But the Future’s mine”: Gendering Institutional Displacement’. The conference’s keynote address, given by Drude Dahlerup (Stockholm University) focussed on ‘Conceptualizing the Breaking of Male Dominance in Politics’.
UNSW Workshop on Gender and Intergovernmental Relations: Australian and International Perspectives
With Deborah Brennan (UNSW Sydney), Louise Chappell (UNSW Sydney) hosted a two day workshop including participants from Australia, Germany, the U.S., South Africa, Canada and the UK to focus on issues related to gender and intergovernmental relations. It included researchers with expertise in gender equality/women’s policy and intergovernmental relations to assess and compare intergovernmental co-ordination efforts (or lack thereof) in women’s policy areas such as reproductive rights, disability, women’s health, childcare, and violence against women within these states.
The key questions that were considered included: 1. Under what circumstances are issues of gender equality placed on intergovernmental agendas in federal and devolved states? 2. Are there specific co-ordination needs and challenges in women’s policy areas? 3. What mechanisms can be put in place to achieve ‘joined-up’ and more coordinated national responses to women’s policy areas in federal and devolved states? 4. How can emerging intergovernmental frameworks be structured to take account of these and other gender related concerns?
The workshop resulted in a symposium on Gendering the Intergovernmental Relations Agenda in the Australian Journal of Public Administration (2014).
Gendering New Institutions Workshop
FIIN Workshop on ‘Beyond Supply and Demand: Gender and Political Recruitment in Comparative Perspective’ in Salamanca
FIIN members Meryl Kenny (UNSW Sydney) and Tània Verge (Universitat Pompeu Fabra) shed new light on the ‘secret garden’ of recruitment into political parties in a workshop entitled ‘Beyond Supply and Demand: Gender and Political Recruitment in Comparative Perspective’ held in Salamanca, Spain. Drawing on a range of empirical cases, this workshop explored the dynamics of candidate selection through a comparative perspective.
FIIN Informal Institutions Workshop at Manchester (UIC programme)
The UIC programme hosted its fourth workshop on Informal Institutions in Manchester. Thirty participants from the UK, North America and Europe presented their ongoing research and contributions on the challenges of researching informal institutions. The workshop began with a roundtable on informal institutions, what we know and the gaps in our understandings. Four panellists – Louise Chappell (UNSW Sydney), Meryl Kenny (University of Edinburgh), Vivien Lowndes (University of Birmingham) and Georgina Waylen (Manchester) – provided an overview of current debates, arguing for particular definitions and criteria to distinguish formal and informal institutions.
The workshop focussed on questions of the meaning of institutions, how can organisations and networks be distinguished from institutions? How long do rules or practices have to be in place in order to become ‘an institution’? What is the role of sanctions, enforcement and rewards? What is the role of silences and gaps in institutional analysis? And what is the relationship between informal institutions, networks and informality?
The workshop included ‘insider’ experiences alongside academic reflections as well as discussions of the methodological challenges faced by researchers investigating informal institutions. The papers formed the basis for Georgina Waylen’s (ed) Gender and Informal Institutions Rowman and Littlefield International, 2017.
Final Conference of UIC Gender Project and FIIN 10th Birthday
The UIC project held its final conference entitled ‘Gender, Institutions and Change: Feminist Institutionalism after 10 years’ in Manchester. The conference provided a great opportunity for the UIC project to showcase its research findings and for FIIN members to assess how far feminist institutionalism has come in the decade since the founding of the FIIN network.
FIIN/ Rowman Littlefield International mini-series
The FIIN/ Rowman Littlefield International mini-series on Feminist institutionalist perspectives launched with three titles: Gender and Informal Institutions (ed. Waylen); Towards Gendering Institutionalism: Equality in Europe (eds. MaCrae and Weiner) and the research monograph Criminalising the Client: Institutional Change, Gendered Ideas and Feminist Strategies (Josefina Erikson). The series was completed with Equal Representation without Legislation: Gender, Power and Institutions in Sweden (Lenita Freidenvall, 2021).
Early Career Researchers Workshop at UNSW Sydney
Prior to the IPSA Conference in Brisbane, FIIN hosted a workshop for early career researchers and PhD students at the University of New South Wales. Supported by the Australian Political Studies Association and the Australian Human Rights Institute, the workshop included presentations from leading FI scholars on different aspects of researching institutions as well as round table sessions where early career researchers presented their work to senior scholars and each other.
IPSA World Congress in Brisbane
The IPSA World Congress of Political Science was presented for the first time in Australia. The 25th edition of IPSA’s flagship event drew some 2,239 participants from 84 countries to the host city of Brisbane to share their research on the theme of “Borders and Margins”. Scholars from the FIIN Network convened two linked panels on FI: ´Feminist Institutionalist Approaches in Practice´ and ´Institutional Responses to Gender´. The first panel addressed the issue of Gender Justice, Legitimacy and International Institutions and the second considered Methodological Approaches to Feminist Institutionalism.
FIIN Workshop on ‘Gendering Institutions’ at University of Edinburgh
A FIIN Workshop on Joni Lovenduski’s (University of London) work ‘Gendering Institutions’ was held at the University of Edinburgh after Joni was awarded her honorary degree. The workshop was attended by Meryl Kenny (Edinburgh), Tania Verge (UPF, Barcelona), Sarah Childs (University of London) and other gender scholars.
ECPG in Amsterdam
Participants at the FIIN Roundtable ´Gendering Institutions: Reflections on FI in Action´ included Meryl Kenny (Edinburgh), Nicole George (Queensland), Louise Chappell (UNSW Sydney), Fiona Mackay (Edinburgh) and Vivien Lowndes (Birmingham). The Roundtable was chaired by Amira Aftab (Macquarie) and Josefina Erikson (Uppsala); and included an ECR Showcase featuring Natalie Galea (UNSW Sydney), Michelle Rouse (Ulster), Amira Aftab and Michal Smerk (Uppsala), chaired by Fiona Mackay (Edinburgh).
Launch of new FIIN website and Oxford University Press Book Series
The new look FIIN website was launched, replacing the former website. The new Oxford University Press FI book series was launched in an online event featuring reflections from leading scholars on the development of feminist institutionalism and exciting new voices.