Female Political Participation Opportunities in palestine: a Case Study on Shadow Councils
(2018) CMEM01 20181Centre for Middle Eastern Studies
- Abstract
- The thesis examines how the Palestinian women’s initiative of the shadow councils contributes to female political participation opportunities in the Palestinian National Authority areas (PNAa). The shadow councils are women groups that lend support to elected local councilwomen and encourage women who are not yet politically active to run for local offices. Based on qualitative field research in the form of open-ended interviews and field observations as well as feminist theory, I argue that despite the existence of a 20% legal gender quota for local councils, women’s political opportunities on the local governmental level are limited. This can be ascribed to internal and external obstacles, most notably the effects of the Israeli... (More)
- The thesis examines how the Palestinian women’s initiative of the shadow councils contributes to female political participation opportunities in the Palestinian National Authority areas (PNAa). The shadow councils are women groups that lend support to elected local councilwomen and encourage women who are not yet politically active to run for local offices. Based on qualitative field research in the form of open-ended interviews and field observations as well as feminist theory, I argue that despite the existence of a 20% legal gender quota for local councils, women’s political opportunities on the local governmental level are limited. This can be ascribed to internal and external obstacles, most notably the effects of the Israeli occupation, the prevalence of conservative and patriarchal mentalities in the Palestinian society and the weak PNA. However, my research emphasizes that the women’s initiative of the shadow councils can compensates for the PNA’s lack of fostering female political participation in governmental institutions by providing women with the political skills needed to improve how they fare in local offices and increases voter’s trust in their capabilities. My research contributes to a better understanding of situations in which gender quotas lead to only limited female political participation, thereby emphasizing how women challenge internal and external constraints to political power and serve as active agents of change in the Palestinian society. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/8953934
- author
- Veltgens, Vanessa LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- CMEM01 20181
- year
- 2018
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Palestine, Gender Quotas, Local politics, Women, Postcolonial Feminism
- language
- English
- id
- 8953934
- date added to LUP
- 2018-07-06 14:42:46
- date last changed
- 2018-07-06 14:42:46
@misc{8953934,
abstract = {{The thesis examines how the Palestinian women’s initiative of the shadow councils contributes to female political participation opportunities in the Palestinian National Authority areas (PNAa). The shadow councils are women groups that lend support to elected local councilwomen and encourage women who are not yet politically active to run for local offices. Based on qualitative field research in the form of open-ended interviews and field observations as well as feminist theory, I argue that despite the existence of a 20% legal gender quota for local councils, women’s political opportunities on the local governmental level are limited. This can be ascribed to internal and external obstacles, most notably the effects of the Israeli occupation, the prevalence of conservative and patriarchal mentalities in the Palestinian society and the weak PNA. However, my research emphasizes that the women’s initiative of the shadow councils can compensates for the PNA’s lack of fostering female political participation in governmental institutions by providing women with the political skills needed to improve how they fare in local offices and increases voter’s trust in their capabilities. My research contributes to a better understanding of situations in which gender quotas lead to only limited female political participation, thereby emphasizing how women challenge internal and external constraints to political power and serve as active agents of change in the Palestinian society.}},
author = {{Veltgens, Vanessa}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Female Political Participation Opportunities in palestine: a Case Study on Shadow Councils}},
year = {{2018}},
}