Gendering Government : Feminist Engagement with the State in Australia and Canada

Feminists, like other political actors, cannot avoid the state.Whether they want equal pay, anti-domestic violence laws, refugee orchildcare centres, they must engage with state institutions. Whatdetermines the nature and extent of this involvement? Why are somefeminists more willing to engage with some institutions, while othersare not?

Gendering Government seeks to answer these questionsthrough a comparison of feminist engagement with political institutionsin Australia and Canada. Chappell considers what effect politicalinstitutions have had on shaping feminist claims, and in turn, to whatextent these claims shape the nature of these institutions. She adds anew dimension to our understanding of the relationship between genderinterests and government, showing how the interaction is dynamic andmutually defining. She further extends existing comparative studies inthe field of women and politics by examining the full range of suchinstitutions, including the electoral, parliamentary,legal/constitutional, and bureaucratic arenas.