Addressing Double Disadvantage: The Politics of Intersectionality in Germany

23 Pages Posted: 28 Aug 2014

See all articles by Louise K. Davidson-Schmich

Louise K. Davidson-Schmich

University of Miami – Associate Professor of Political Science

Date Written: 2014

Abstract

This paper introduces an edited volume addressing the question "when and why do political elites address the (perceived) needs of women belonging to disempowered social categories?" We systematically examine a range of social intersections while holding the national institutional setting constant. We focus our attention on one particular polity – the Federal Republic of Germany – and explore the experiences of a range of doubly-disadvantaged groups in obtaining policy responses. This allows us to go beyond the well-established focus on gender and ethno-religious minorities in Western Europe (although we do include case studies on this subject) and broaden our empirical scope to study working-class women, disabled women, lesbians, women in the military, a regional minority (Eastern German women), and the intersexed. Limiting our study to a single country allows us to compare the ability of women from a range of social groups to access the political system. We seek to inspire other scholars to undertake studies in this vein elsewhere to allow the field of political science to draw additional, generalizable conclusions about the politics of intersectionality.

Keywords: intersectionality, Germany

Suggested Citation

Davidson-Schmich, Louise K., Addressing Double Disadvantage: The Politics of Intersectionality in Germany (2014). APSA 2014 Annual Meeting Paper, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2451366

Louise K. Davidson-Schmich (Contact Author)

University of Miami – Associate Professor of Political Science ( email )

Coral Gables, FL 33124
United States

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