Parité!
Sexual Equality and the Crisis of French Universalism
9780226741086
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Parité!
Sexual Equality and the Crisis of French Universalism
France today is in the throes of a crisis about whether to represent social differences within its political system and, if so, how. It is a crisis defined by the rhetoric of a universalism that takes the abstract individual to be the representative not only of citizens but also of the nation. In Parité! Joan Wallach Scott shows how the requirement for abstraction has led to the exclusion of women from French politics.
During the 1990s, le mouvement pour la parité successfully campaigned for women’s inclusion in elective office with an argument that is unprecedented in the annals of feminism. The paritaristes insisted that if the abstract individual were thought of as sexed, then sexual difference would no longer be a relevant consideration in politics. Scott insists that this argument was neither essentialist nor separatist; it was not about women’s special qualities or interests. Instead, parité was rigorously universalist—and for that reason was both misunderstood and a source of heated debate.
During the 1990s, le mouvement pour la parité successfully campaigned for women’s inclusion in elective office with an argument that is unprecedented in the annals of feminism. The paritaristes insisted that if the abstract individual were thought of as sexed, then sexual difference would no longer be a relevant consideration in politics. Scott insists that this argument was neither essentialist nor separatist; it was not about women’s special qualities or interests. Instead, parité was rigorously universalist—and for that reason was both misunderstood and a source of heated debate.
184 pages | 6 x 9 | © 2005
Chicago Studies in Practices of Meaning
History: European History
Law and Legal Studies: Law and Society
Political Science: Political and Social Theory
Sociology: Social Change, Social Movements, Political Sociology
Reviews
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. The Crisis of Representation
2. The Rejection of Quotas
3. The Dilemma of Difference
4. The Campaign for Parité
5. The Discourse of the Couple
6. The Power of the Law
Conclusion
Notes
Index
Introduction
1. The Crisis of Representation
2. The Rejection of Quotas
3. The Dilemma of Difference
4. The Campaign for Parité
5. The Discourse of the Couple
6. The Power of the Law
Conclusion
Notes
Index
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