Women’s Rights in Democratizing States
Just Debate and Gender Justice in the Public Sphere

This study offers an explanation for why advances in women's rights rarely occur in democratizing states.

Denise M. Walsh (Author)

9781107001916, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 15 November 2010

306 pages, 4 b/w illus. 8 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.1 cm, 0.62 kg

'Denise Walsh's book remains a great contribution to the (currently limited) understanding of gender and politics in developing countries. Readers will appreciate the author's ability to break down complex concepts and contentious problems central to the subject at hand, which allows her book to be accessible and engaging to a wider audience. Her rigorous methodologies have much to offer social science students and scholars, and the wealth of data contained within her work provides a strong foundation on which future research could rely.' Gender and Development

This study offers an explanation for why advances in women's rights rarely occur in democratizing states. Drawing on deliberative theory, Denise Walsh argues that the leading institutions in the public sphere are highly gendered, meaning women's ability to shape the content of public debate and put pressure on the state to advance their rights is limited. She tests this claim by measuring the openness and inclusiveness of debate conditions in the public sphere during select time periods in Poland, Chile and South Africa. Through a series of structured, focused comparisons, the book confirms the importance of just debate for securing gender justice. The comparisons also reveal that counter publics in the leading institutions in the public sphere are crucial for expanding debate conditions. The book concludes with an analysis of counter publics and suggests an active role for the state in the public sphere.

Part I. Just Debate: 1. Democratization and just debate
2. Just debate in the public sphere
3. Probing and testing just debate
Part II. Just Debate in Democratizing States: 4. Just debate denied: socialist and democratizing Poland
5. Just debate diverges: regime breakdown in Chile and South Africa
6. Just debate prevails: the liberal moment in South Africa
7. Just debate declines: consolidation in South Africa
Part III. Gender Justice: 8. Pursuing just debate.

Subject Areas: Comparative politics [JPB], Gender studies: women [JFSJ1], Gender studies, gender groups [JFSJ]