DOI: 10.53557/elecciones
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¿Cómo evaluar la representación simbólica de género?

How to evaluate the symbolic representation of gender?

Authors

  • Karolina Monika Gilas Orcid
    Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México
  • DOI:
    https://doi.org/10.53557/Elecciones.2022.v21n23.07

    • Abstract

    The understanding of symbolic representation is a relevant and still pending task in Political Science. This is a dimension of representation that has been little explored theoretically and empirically but which has become an aspect of interest given the increasing presence of women in legislative spaces. The growing access of women to positions of power raises the need to understand the processes through which women exercise representative functions and how the structures generated influence their ability to do so. Based on the understanding of symbolic representation as power relations —as to how political power is exercised in the metaphorical and practical sense— this paper argues the need to advance in its analysis, which is essential to understand all aspects of the representation exercised by women in institutional spaces, especially in the legislative spheres. To this end, innovatively, this paper proposes its conceptualization and evaluation from the perspective of feminist neo-institutionalism, seeking to place at the centre of the discussion the agency of those who exercise representation in the contexts of the generated legislative institutions.

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    • Author Biography

    Karolina Monika Gilas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México

    Doctora en Ciencias Políticas y Sociales por la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (Unam). Profesora del Centro de Estudios Políticos de la Facultad de Ciencias Políticas y Sociales de la Unam y del Programa de Posgrado en Ciencias Políticas y Sociales de la misma Universidad. Forma parte del equipo de investigación del Observatorio de Reformas Políticas de América Latina del Instituto de Investigaciones Jurídicas de la Unam y la Organización de los Estados Americanos. Coordina el proyecto Representación Simbólica de las Mujeres en América Latina. Sus intereses de investigación están relacionados con la representación política de las mujeres y los grupos subrepresentados, los sistemas electorales y el derecho electoral, así como con los avances disciplinares de la Ciencia Política encaminados a la inclusión de la perspectiva de género. Miembro de la Red de Politólogas - #NoSinMujeres.