The Politics of Gender, Race and Identity

This course examines the role of race, gender, and identity in political life. How do we define identity? When and why does it become politicised? How do identities intersect and work to structure attitudes and affect behaviour? This course explores these and other questions. We begin by exploring the literature on identity, with particular attention to its biological, political, and sociological roots and to the literature on descriptive, substantive, and symbolic representation. The long-standing underrepresentation of women and racial minorities in public life is a key aspect of the course and will structure much of our theoretical and empirical discussion. Additional topics will include the relationship between gender/race/identity and social movements, elections, political parties, identity and the law, framing effects, intersectionality, and other elements of identity including (but not limited to): religion, age, class, Indigenous status, disability, and nationality. The course is comparative in its approach but will often focus on specific cases, including Australia.