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Establishing Male Dominance: Descriptive, Substantive and Symbolic Representation

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Gender, Institutions and Political Representation

Part of the book series: Gender and Politics ((GAP))

Abstract

This chapter traces the establishment of the institutions of male dominance in Central and Eastern Europe to political actors’ deployment of two strategic resources at their disposal during the transitions from communist rule: (1) organisational networks, which enabled them to draw on predominantly male memberships when negotiating the collapse of state socialism and then when selecting their candidates for the founding elections of 1990; (2) symbolic repertoires, which enabled them to portray themselves as representatives of broad social groups such as ‘civil society’ or ‘the nation’ rather than particular interests, and to construct women as citizens with gender-specific roles in the process of democracy-building.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    ‘un mouvement essentiellement masculin à son sommet, mais féminisé dans sa dimension communicationnelle’ (Forest 2009, 166) (my translation above).

  2. 2.

    ‘la lecture attentive du compte rendu des discussions dans les différentes arènes du KCOF, de même que les entretiens avec les actrices de ce dernier, livrent en filigrane la description d’un environnement largement féminisé pour tout ce qui concerne la saisie, la copie et la diffusion de l’information’ (Forest 2009, 171) (my translation above).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Politics and Contemporary History, University of Salford Manchester, Greater Manchester, UK

    Cristina Chiva

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  1. Cristina Chiva
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Chiva, C. (2018). Establishing Male Dominance: Descriptive, Substantive and Symbolic Representation. In: Gender, Institutions and Political Representation. Gender and Politics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-01177-0_2

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