Women Trade Union Leaders in England and Feminist Identification: Neutralizing their Gender for Better Representation of their Class?
Type de matériel :
10
Since the late 1970s, the majority of British trade unions have, under pressure from feminist groups, implemented internal equality policies to address the “democratic deficit,” that is, the under-representation of women as well as ethnic and sexual minorities in the union hierarchy. If British trade unions entered an “era of diversity” in the 1990s, they still have strong relations with the Labour Party: what are their relations to gender, race, sexuality and class issues now? Do women union leaders still easily identify themselves as “feminists”? Career narratives with union officers combined with fieldwork in women-only trainings and conferences in 2008 reveal variations in their identification as “feminists” depending on generation, social and professional background as well as union activity, whether specialized or not in gender equality. We will argue that the strong support these women display for affirmative action policies is combined with a reluctance to stand as the spokesperson of one single category – women or another minority – to avoid being perceived as prioritizing the “cause of women” over other forms of struggles and injustices.
Réseaux sociaux