Intersectionality and Politics: Recent Research on Gender, Race, and Political Representation in the United States / Edition 1

by Carol Hardy-Fanta

Overview

Cutting-edge research on the intersection of race, gender, and politics

Traditionally, there has been a significant lack of empirical attention given to the ways in which race/ethnicity, gender, and political representation overlap. Intersectionality and Politics is the groundbreaking collection of contemporary research and essays that applies the concept of intersectionality specifically to descriptive and substantive representation by African-American, Latino/a, and Asian-American elected officials. This unique compilation looks at numerous states and focuses on multiple racial/ethnic groups to demonstrate the importance of this theory for understanding the political leadership of people of color and women.

Intersectionality and Politics is the wide-ranging text that is both informative overview and thought-provoking analysis of a subject that has received little practical study. Articles in this important text cover a expansive gamut—from women of color as elected officials and the changing face of leadership in America today to an exploration of the growing interest in intersectionality and a look toward the potential of future research—making it a useful and comprehensive one-stop resource.

Contributors to Intersectionality and Politics explore critical topics such as:

• the contours and context of descriptive representation with a focus on women of color
• the puzzle of women of color’s proportionately higher percentage of office holding in state legislatures
• agenda-setting behavior of African-American female state legislators
• the impact of race and gender on the likelihood of legislative bill submission and passage
• patterns of gendered representation and related legislative advocacy within Latino delegations in the Southwest
• new findings on the Latino/a gender gap
• the public policy implications of intersectionality theory
• and many more!

Complete with extensive bibliographies and a wealth of tables and figures to highlight the striking findings, Intersectionality and Politics is ideal for undergraduate and graduate students and educators in political science, ethnic studies, Latino/Black/Asian studies, gender studies, sociology, and women’s studies. Policymakers, politicians, and those working in high-minority areas will also find this to be an invaluable text.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780789036667
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	10/09/2007
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Carol Hardy-Fanta, PhD, is Director of the Center forWomen in Politics and Public Policy at UMass Boston’s John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies.Dr. Hardy-Fanta is the author of two books, and numerous articles. She is a nationally recognized scholar on Latina/o politics and has published widely on the intersection of gender, race, and ethnicity in politics and public policy.

Table of Contents

• Introduction (Carol Hardy-Fanta)
• THE CONTOURS AND CONTEXT OF DESCRIPTIVE REPRESENTATION
• Gender, Race, and Descriptive Representation in the United States: Findings from the Gender and Multicultural Leadership Project (Carol Hardy-Fanta, Pei-te Lien, Dianne M. Pinderhughes, and Christine Marie Sierra)
• Women of Color in State Legislatures: Gender, Race, Ethnicity, and Legislative Office Holding (Becki Scola)
• SUBSTANTIVE IMPACT OF THE CHANGING FACE OF ELECTED OFFICIALS
• Agenda Setting and African-American Women in State Legislatures (Kathleen A. Bratton, Kerry L. Haynie, and Beth Reingold)
• Race and Gender Matter: Refining Models of Legislative Policy Making in State Legislatures (Byron D’Andrá Orey, Wendy Smooth, with Kimberly S. Adams and Kisha Harris-Clark)
• Gender and Ethnicity: Patterns of Electoral Success and Legislative Advocacy Among Latina and Latino State Officials in Four States (Luis Ricardo Fraga, Linda Lopez, Valerie Martinez-Ebers, and Ricardo Ramírez)
• A Second Look: Is There a Latina/o Gender Gap? (Lisa García Bedolla, Jessica L. Lavariega Monforti, and Adrian D. Pantoja)
• INTERSECTIONALITY: POLITICAL LEADERSHIP AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS
• Envisioning the Possibilities for a Good Life: Exploring the Public Policy Implications of Intersectionality Theory (Tiffany Manuel)
• Commentary: The Practice and Functioning of Intersectionality and Politics (Julia S. Jordan-Zachery)
• About the Contributors
• Index
• Reference Notes Included

What People are Saying About This

Kira Sanbonmatsu

A TRULY PATH-BREAKING WORK FEATURING THE LEADING SCHOLARS IN THE STUDY OF RACE, GENDER, AND ETHNICITY. . . . The volume's broad coverage, theoretical insight, use of original data, and informative analysis make it a must read for scholars of race, gender, and ethnicity. . . . There is much to learn from this theoretically and empirically rich work. (Kira Sanbonmatsu, PhD, Associate Professor of Political Science and Senior Scholar at the Center for American Women and Politics, Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers University)

Karen O'Connor

FINALLY, THE BOOK THAT ALL OF US IN THE WOMEN AND POLITICS FIELD HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR. . . . Expands upon 'teaser' convention papers to assemble the first works on the key issues of the intersectionalities of gender, race, and ethnicity. . . . A TREMENDOUS ADDITION to the literature and points to the need for more research in this important and heretofore under-explored area of inquiry. (Karen O'Connor, JD, PhD, Jonathan N. Helfat Distinguished Professor of Political Science; Founder and Director, Women & Politics Institute)

James Jennings

A PATH-BREAKING ANTHOLOGY that synthesizes key themes in the literature on race, ethnicity, and gender. . . . Responds to a tendency in political science to compartmentalized analysis of race/ethnicity and gender, and class, and thereby overlook how these dynamics overlap and are connected with each other. . . . Will be recognized as A KEY WORK IN THE AREA OF GENDER AND RACE/ETHNIC STUDIES IN THE U.S. POLITY. (James Jennings, Professor of Urban and Environmental Policy & Planning, Tufts University)