The Politics of Wellbeing Seminar, 17/04/15

Newcastle University

Dr. Justine N. Uvuza, Newcastle University

Feminist /Gender Perspectives and wellbeing.

Outline

Introduction

Country context

Key findings

Policy Limitations

Conclusion

“Understanding gender requires us to go beyond the obvious and to reconsider issues we may think are self-evident and already well understood.” Wharton (2011:2)

IntroductionMy thesis analysed Rwandan women politician’s

lived experiences of balancing the private and public roles and the impact this has on their career development.

The data speaks to the tensions in women’s lives that affect wellbeing both in terms of organizational structure and cultures at different levels:-As mothers-As wives-Work culture, gender bias and public scrutiny

This research was influenced by feminist theories regarding gender equality and difference, public and private spheres and social justice debates; advanced by feminists such as Hunt 1990; Richardson 1993; Tobias 1997, Yuval Davis and Webner 1999; Nussbaum 2003 and Abbott, Nativel, & Wallace 2013). For example, has women’s participation created more freedoms, more space, and more choices? Has women’s access to and participation in politics improved their lives?

Country Context and Background Women make up 64 % Deputies, more than30% in the cabinet, at permanent secretarylevel, the judiciary and atLocal government; Exists a political will;

Gender machineries;

Positive Legal and Policy

framework

While there are specialmeasures to increasethe number of womenin decision-makinggenerally and politicsspecifically, the culturalfilters in which genderinequality is basedhave received lessattention.

Findings / impact on personal wellbeing.(1)

Benefit from political work

H/e , curtailed by the struggle to balance multiple roles

Majority of the women

mentioned that they gained

from political participation in a

number of ways; Socially,

Economically & politically

For example, More salary More confidence and self

esteemAccess to information,

More work, twice the responsibility

Work-family conflictSpill-over effectMarital discord, No social and

leisure/recreation time

Findings (2)Limited choices and freedom Detrimental to the quality of care for children and

other vulnerable family members (impact on other family members)

Fatigue, pressure, stress, guilt; feelings of anxiety and anger

Wellbeing has many dimensions, all of which could have different effects across genders.

Policy LimitationsNeutralised policy approach (lack of gender

analysis and mainstreaming skills) at inception, formulation and implementation stages.

Government agenda/priorities, i.e. failure to put in place facilities that enables work and childcare

Male-stream work environment discourages women from aspiring for politics - unless they fitted in, they may get out.

Gender biases and public scrutiny scares women (especially for local politics)

Resources to mobilise and build women’s capacity

ConclusionPolitics must be feminised, feminised not

only to add women to the table (still a long way to go), but also to systematically include women’s issues and perspectives. This requires going beyond statistics (numbers) to include the needs of different social categories. Statistics speaks to one story but leaves out the major story; the narratives about men and women’s (and other categories) live experiences.

Further readingsAbbott, P., Nativel, C., & Wallace, C. (2013). “Dual

earner parents strategies for reconciling work and care in seven European countries.”, Observatoire de la société britannique, (14), 73-97.

Wharton, A. S. (2012) “Work and Family in the 21st Century: Four Research Domains”, Sociology Compass, 6(3): 219-235. 

Blakeley, G. and Bryson, V. (eds.) (2007) The Impact of Feminism on Political Concepts and Debates. Manchester: Manchester University Press. –

Joni Lovenduski (2005). Feminising Politics. Cambridge: Polity.