Candice D. Ortbals

The evolution of Spanish state feminism : a fragmented landscape

Spanish feminism has been typified by fragmentation during the last decade between women’s policy agencies and women’s movement actors. During the 1980s and 1990s, Spain experienced federalization and became part of the European Community. In this chapter, we describe these institutional changes and their implications for state feminism. We highlight national and subnational equality institutions and policies, concluding that the mix of national, regional, and international politics holds both advantages and disadvantages for Spanish feminism.

Subnational Politics in Spain: New Avenues for Feminist Policymaking and Activism

In this article, I evaluate how subnational governments pursue feminist policy outputs. To do so, I examine equality policies in the Spanish regions of Andalusia and Galicia during the 1980s and 1990s. Whereas the national Womens Institute in Spain was the driving force behind equality policies during the 1980s, regional administrations gained autonomy in the early 1980s and developed their own equality policies during the 1990s and 2000s. I ask 1) whether leftist political allies are key to feminist policy outputs, 2) whether regional feminist policy outputs increase over time as subnational institutions develop, and 3) whether feminists in society are able to impact such policies. I conclude that subnational administrations do not always advance feminist policy outputs nor do they work cooperatively with all feminist organizations. Whereas the leftist regional administration of Andalusia has been a leader in feminist policymaking, the conservative Galician administration developed equality policies more slowly, and these policies were controversial among feminists and leftist politicians. I explain how regional womens policy agencies led by the Left and Right have nevertheless promoted womens civil society and policies that respond to womens local identities.

Women defining terrorism: ethnonationalist, state, and machista terrorism

This article explores definitions of terrorism according to various women in the Basque regions of Spain and France. We ask how women in social movements and government institutions define terrorism, how terrorism influences them, and whether they are viewed as victims of violence and/or as political agents who challenge terrorism. We discuss three definitions of terrorism: ethnonationalist terrorism of ETA (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna), state terrorism against ETA operatives and supporters, and terrorismo machista (or intimate terrorism seen as gender violence). The article uncovers multiple women’s lived experiences related to terrorism, and by problematising agency and definitions of terrorism, it challenges the binary in international relations of women as either victims or violent perpetrators of terrorism and it establishes terrorismo machista as political violence closely related to other forms of political violence. We conclude that women are important political agents regarding multiple types of terrorism.

Gendered Political Opportunities? Elite Alliances, Electoral Cleavages, and Activity Choice Among Women's Groups in the UK, France, and Germany

This article examines the impact of political opportunity structures (POS) on the activity choices of womens groups in the UK, France, and Germany in order to determine whether political opportunities, specifically elite alliances and changes in electoral cleavages, are gendered. We ask how/whether various institutional structures impact the activity choices of womens groups, gauging whether women react to opportunities in a similar manner as other social groups, namely environmental groups. We find that social democratic elite allies and electoral cleavages prompted by de-alignment influence activity choice among womens groups in a similar manner as among environmental groups, yet the data show that womens groups are disenfranchised from direct contact with policymaking elites through consultation, thus suggesting the presence of gendered POS.

Embodied Researchers: Gendered Bodies, Research Activity, and Pregnancy in the Field

We discuss how physical appearance, endurance, health, and motherhood status present advantages and disadvantages to female political scientists doing fieldwork abroad.

Jumbled Women's Activism: Subnational And International Influences On Galician Equality Politics

Abstract International perspectives regarding gender equality have materialized in Galicia, the most northwestern region of Spain. This article examines how international and subnational factors have affected Galician nationalist feminists, rural womens associations and bureaucrats working in womens policy machineries. The article explains how these equality actors similarly base their activism on local and international themes, yet maintain different stances on the meaning of equality. I uncover how the subnational manifestation of womens policy machineries – themselves an international phenomenon – hastened diversity and even discontent among local equality actors. I conclude that subnational efforts at equality promotion do not always produce a bold version of feminism within local societies.

Women Policymakers Framing their Leadership and Lives in Relation to Terrorism: The Basque Case

ABSTRACT We examine terrorism from the perspective of women political elites in the Basque regions of Spain and France, asking whether women are present as policymakers in terrorism politics and how they frame the impact of terrorism on their leadership and lives. To assess women’s presence as policymakers, we report the representation of Spanish and French women in executive leadership and terrorism-related portfolios. We find that women are not equally represented, and they do not participate at the highest levels of terrorism policymaking. To understand how women frame their leadership and lives as related to terrorism, we analyze 14 interviews of women politicians, in which women express that they are equal to men and frame their actions in terms of maternal identity and their claimed ability to relate to citizens. By reporting the frames women politicians use to describe themselves, this article shows how women politicians negotiate gender identities as related to terrorism policy and shows that women politicians have a complex understanding of gender as it relates to equality, care, and terrorism.

Leaders or Laggards: engendering sub-national governance through women's policy machineries in Spain and Poland

More than three decades of international best practice and a rich body of scholarship demonstrate that womens policy machinery (WPM) is a crucial tool for promoting feminist policymaking. A new and unstudied form of WPM is emerging at the sub-national level. In this paper, we examine the effects of (1) regional leftist party governance and (2) sub-state durability on feminist policymaking. We employ Stetson and Mazurs model of effective, feminist WPM and operationalize policy Influence and Access provided to feminist groups. Drawing on four regional cases within Spain and Poland, we use field research, interviews, and party documents to examine whether regional leftist party governance and federalized state structure are associated with WPM ‘Leaders’ in feminist policymaking. We find that regional leftist governance is associated with WPMs that offer feminist policy and empower feminist groups; however, sub-state durability modifies the impact of party governance. We conclude with suggestions for further research.

Gender and Counter-Terrorism

“Most of the kids were sick and coughing. Our answer was handing out stuffed animals. Then we gave the women toothpaste and hygiene products and began to explain what they were. “We know what they are,” one woman said, “We just don’t have them.” I quickly felt the impact of our good intentions running head-long into systemic issues and our own ignorance.” (Tessa Poppe qtd. in Ricks 2016 [np])

Women Engaged in Violent Activity as Terrorists, Guerrillas and Genocidaires

“Diana Marcela, 28, has spent 13 years with FARC and hopes to finish high school and study photography after demobilising.” “Johana, 19, has spent six years with FARC and wants to study nursing.” “Rubiela, 32, plans to study dentistry after 10 years with FARC.” (Qtd. in Vergara 2016 [np]).