Gender, Disability and Political Representation: Understanding the Experiences of Disabled Women

Evans, Elizabeth and Reher, Stefanie. 2023. Gender, Disability and Political Representation: Understanding the Experiences of Disabled Women. European Journal of Politics and Gender, ISSN 2515-1088 [Article] (In Press)

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Abstract or Description

Women face multiple barriers during political recruitment and representational processes. Concomitantly, a burgeoning scholarship has revealed the existence of various obstacles to elected office faced by disabled people. While studies have examined the intersections between gender, race and class, we know little about how the intersection between disability and gender shapes people’s experiences. This article provides an exploratory case-study analysis of the UK. We centre the perspectives of disabled women in our analysis, drawing upon qualitative interviews undertaken with 41 disabled women candidates, politicians and party activists, as well as participant observation of online events organised to discuss disabled women and elected office. Three themes emerged from this research: first, disabled women feel that they are perceived as ‘not up to the job’; second, disabled women are ‘othered’ during recruitment processes; and, third, hyper-visibility experienced by some, but not all, disabled women can be experienced positively but mainly negatively.

Item Type:

Article

Identification Number (DOI):

https://doi.org/10.1332/251510823X16779382116831

Keywords:

Gender, Disability, Political Representation, Disabled Women, Political Recruitment

Departments, Centres and Research Units:

Politics

Dates:

DateEvent
2 March 2023Accepted
28 March 2023Published Online

Item ID:

33249

Date Deposited:

03 Mar 2023 11:11

Last Modified:

28 Mar 2024 02:26

Peer Reviewed:

Yes, this version has been peer-reviewed.

URI:

https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/33249

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