New Institutionalism Through a Gender Lens: Towards a Feminist Institutionalism?

Abstract

New institutionalism (NI) may no longer qualify as being ‘new’, but since re-emphasizing institutions as a central explanatory variable in political analysis over two decades ago, it continues to provide scholars with a useful perspective through which to analyse political dynamics and outcomes that shape everyday life. The renewed focus on institutions has rebalanced the structure/agency scales back toward the former without losing important insights about the role and impact of political actors. NI has allowed for greater understanding about the co-constitutive nature of politics: the various ways in which actors bring about or resist change in institutions; and the way institutions shape the nature of actors’ behaviour through the construction of rules, norms and policies.

The legislature as a gendered workplace: Exploring members of parliament’s experiences of working in the Swedish parliament

“…Mackay, Kenny, and Chappell, 2010, Krook and Mackay, 2011, Mackay and Waylen, 2014. Subsequent to the work of North (1990) and a large number of other researchers, institutions have often been defined as "the rules of the game" that comprise the cognitive, normative, and regulative structures and activities that provide social and political behavior with meaning, form, and stability (Scott, 2008).…”

“…In order to evaluate whether the working conditions in a legislative body are gender equal, it is important to investigate not only the formal rules and regulations, but also the informal aspects of its inner workings, including practices, norms, and expectations, that have gendered consequences insofar as they affect male and female politicians in different ways (Mackay, Kenny, and Chappell, 2010, Mackay and Waylen, 2014, Waylen, 2014.…”

Gender Differences in Climate Change Perceptions and Adaptation Strategies: An Intra-Household Analysis from Rural Kenya

“…'Feminist institutionalism' offers solutions to include women in decision-making processes, how to institutionalize gender and the interactions between gender and governing institutions (Mackay et al 2010). In spite of the Ministry of Agriculture having a 'gender desk' and acknowledging the importance of women in agriculture, service delivery particularly extension services and farmers' training programs -are still gender-blind (see Mbagaya & Anjichi 2007).…”

The Feminist Potential of Sociological Institutionalism

“…There is much apparent common ground and common cause between FPS and SI approaches (Kenny 2007;Mackay and Meier 2003). Both share a predominantly social constructionist approach to the analysis of institutions and actors and to the broader social context in which these are constituted.…”