What Women Politicians Could, Would, and Should, but Cannot Do. Perceptions of Women Parliamentarians Regarding Barriers to Political Representation of Women in Bosnia and Herzegovina
This paper analyses the main barriers to women’s political representation in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH) from the perspective of female parliamentarians. The theoretical section presents the main obstacles to women’s political representation, followed by an overview of trends in the political repres...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Hrvatsko sociološko društvo
2023-01-01
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| Series: | Revija za Sociologiju |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hrcak.srce.hr/file/453138 |
| _version_ | 1797206176545374208 |
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| author | Zlatiborka Popov Momčinović |
| author_facet | Zlatiborka Popov Momčinović |
| author_sort | Zlatiborka Popov Momčinović |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper analyses the main barriers to women’s political representation in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH) from the perspective of female parliamentarians. The theoretical section presents the main obstacles to women’s political representation, followed by an overview of trends in the political representation of women and the controversies surrounding the presence of women in politics within the ethnocratic context of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Using the data from qualitative research, gathered through in-depth interviews with female MPs from BH elected to state and entity parliaments, this paper analyses and discusses the main obstacles to the political representation of women. They include challenges relating to family life and traditional gender roles, internal party processes and dynamics, especially informal relations among men, lack of support in election campaigns and various manoeuvres to circumvent quotas, shrunken space for women in parliaments, and distorted representation in the media. The experiences of the interlocutors are strongly gendered, and all the mentioned obstacles prove to be relevant, regardless of their varying impact on individual women MPs. Even interlocutors who have not personally encountered certain obstacles acknowledge their existence, noting that their female colleagues in politics have experienced them, sometimes in a brutal manner. There is agreement among the interlocutors that women are severely disadvantaged in politics. Therefore, serious additional positive measures should be taken to improve gender equality, given that the ethnocratic system favours ethnic representation and men maintain a firm grip on political power in post-conflict BH society. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T09:02:51Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-557bc6aac5d6494f9d8984d93383e8b4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0350-154X 1846-7954 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T09:02:51Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | Hrvatsko sociološko društvo |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Revija za Sociologiju |
| spelling | doaj.art-557bc6aac5d6494f9d8984d93383e8b42024-04-15T19:18:47ZengHrvatsko sociološko društvoRevija za Sociologiju0350-154X1846-79542023-01-0153336539510.5613/rzs.53.3.2What Women Politicians Could, Would, and Should, but Cannot Do. Perceptions of Women Parliamentarians Regarding Barriers to Political Representation of Women in Bosnia and HerzegovinaZlatiborka Popov Momčinović0Faculty of Philosophy, University of East Sarajevo, Bosnia and HerzegovinaThis paper analyses the main barriers to women’s political representation in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH) from the perspective of female parliamentarians. The theoretical section presents the main obstacles to women’s political representation, followed by an overview of trends in the political representation of women and the controversies surrounding the presence of women in politics within the ethnocratic context of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Using the data from qualitative research, gathered through in-depth interviews with female MPs from BH elected to state and entity parliaments, this paper analyses and discusses the main obstacles to the political representation of women. They include challenges relating to family life and traditional gender roles, internal party processes and dynamics, especially informal relations among men, lack of support in election campaigns and various manoeuvres to circumvent quotas, shrunken space for women in parliaments, and distorted representation in the media. The experiences of the interlocutors are strongly gendered, and all the mentioned obstacles prove to be relevant, regardless of their varying impact on individual women MPs. Even interlocutors who have not personally encountered certain obstacles acknowledge their existence, noting that their female colleagues in politics have experienced them, sometimes in a brutal manner. There is agreement among the interlocutors that women are severely disadvantaged in politics. Therefore, serious additional positive measures should be taken to improve gender equality, given that the ethnocratic system favours ethnic representation and men maintain a firm grip on political power in post-conflict BH society.https://hrcak.srce.hr/file/453138political representation of womenwomen parliamentariansBosnia and Herzegovinaethnonationalismgender (in)equality |
| spellingShingle | Zlatiborka Popov Momčinović What Women Politicians Could, Would, and Should, but Cannot Do. Perceptions of Women Parliamentarians Regarding Barriers to Political Representation of Women in Bosnia and Herzegovina Revija za Sociologiju political representation of women women parliamentarians Bosnia and Herzegovina ethnonationalism gender (in)equality |
| title | What Women Politicians Could, Would, and Should, but Cannot Do. Perceptions of Women Parliamentarians Regarding Barriers to Political Representation of Women in Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| title_full | What Women Politicians Could, Would, and Should, but Cannot Do. Perceptions of Women Parliamentarians Regarding Barriers to Political Representation of Women in Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| title_fullStr | What Women Politicians Could, Would, and Should, but Cannot Do. Perceptions of Women Parliamentarians Regarding Barriers to Political Representation of Women in Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| title_full_unstemmed | What Women Politicians Could, Would, and Should, but Cannot Do. Perceptions of Women Parliamentarians Regarding Barriers to Political Representation of Women in Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| title_short | What Women Politicians Could, Would, and Should, but Cannot Do. Perceptions of Women Parliamentarians Regarding Barriers to Political Representation of Women in Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| title_sort | what women politicians could would and should but cannot do perceptions of women parliamentarians regarding barriers to political representation of women in bosnia and herzegovina |
| topic | political representation of women women parliamentarians Bosnia and Herzegovina ethnonationalism gender (in)equality |
| url | https://hrcak.srce.hr/file/453138 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT zlatiborkapopovmomcinovic whatwomenpoliticianscouldwouldandshouldbutcannotdoperceptionsofwomenparliamentariansregardingbarrierstopoliticalrepresentationofwomeninbosniaandherzegovina |