Overview

Women’s political representation is often expected to be better on “the left.” However, the reality is more complicated. Using Germany’s multi-party system as its central case study, Beyond Left, Right, and Center challenges this conventional wisdom on political ideology. Christina Xydias shows that some right-leaning parties advocate for women’s rights and interests, while left- and right-leaning parties can be equally indifferent to lack of representation for women from marginalized groups. These findings follow from analyses of election results, transcripts from debates and speeches, and personal interviews, as well as from a close reading of intertwined military and citizenship policies that illustrate how women’s and ethnic minority groups’ rights are constructed. Beyond Left, Right, and Center concludes with an analysis of women’s representation across OECD countries, showing that right-leaning parties are more likely to support women’s rights and interests in societies that are more egalitarian.

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9781439923764

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Reviews

“Beyond Left, Right, and Center is a highly valuable, often elegant piece of scholarship. It provides novel theoretical and empirical insights that will be especially useful to researchers working in the areas of party politics and gender and politics. In particular, the book argues that the left-right divide does not adequately capture how the politics of gender operate in Germany. Xydias’s sophisticated and innovative research builds on theories of representation and illustrates the value of including the smaller, neglected parties in our analyses.”—Sarah Elise Wiliarty, Associate Professor of Government at Wesleyan University, and author of The CDU and the Politics of Gender in Germany: Bringing Women to the Party “Beyond Left, Right, and Center effectively challenges the widely held view that political parties on the ideological left best represent women’s interests. Xydias succeeds not only in exploding the simple right-left distinction among parties but also in demonstrating that patriarchy exists everywhere on the political spectrum. Further, by bringing an intersectional lens, the book effectively explores the complexities of what it means to advocate for women, especially those women who are multiply marginalized. It is a must-read for anyone with an interest in political parties, gender and intersectionality, and women’s political representation.”—Melanie M. Hughes, Professor of Sociology at the University of Pittsburgh, and coauthor of Women, Politics, and Power: a Global Perspective ""At its core, the strength of Xydias’ study lies in refuting the narrative that left parties are the only 'true' advocates for women in general and minority women in particular.... Xydias convincingly argues that a more granular focus on ideological differences tells the story of women’s and ethnic minority women’s discrimination better.... The cogent mix of theoretical and impressive empirical analysis makes Xydias’ book a must read not just for scholars of Germany and gender but for students and researchers interested in methodological questions on how to test intersectional marginalization.""—Political Science Quaterly

Author Information

Christina Xydias is Associate Professor of Political Science at Bucknell University.

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