Women, Europe and the new languages of politics

Book abstract:

The author has two aims with this book: firstly to emphasise the position of women as potentially prime contributors to developing our understanding of democracy; and secondly to encourage us to pay attention to the languages we use in constituting politics, and indeed to begin to see language as an integral part of the creative process of political relations. Chapter one - Women, Language and Politics - reviews aspects of the current relationship between feminism and politics and then considers how language has become a key domain of politics before addressing some of the implications of bringing together women, language and politics. The women at the centre of the study are MEPs from 12 nationalities and chapter two provides the explanation for choosing the European Parliament and why such women are in a position to develop potentially new and interesting languages of politics which could contribute to some of the major issues of concern to so many today. Engendering politics is discussed in chapter three and we are invited to consider that the ways in which women narrate politics might represent a new skill not constrained by the politics of presence and lacking some of the confrontational elements so widely observed. Similarly too the question of citizenship is subjected to analysis of language used by MEPs and distinction drawn between the language used by women which offers a further definition of citizenship to that used by men, Citizen of what? Is a question hotly debated in the quest to identify the European citizen and as discussed in chapter an identity in process and one which processes within slightly different frameworks for men and for women. Chapter six examines 'The Category Women' and tests out the pragmatic choice of the 12 women MEPs by analysis of the varieties in the languages women speak in politics. A fulsome concluding chapter closes with a view on language that is not necessarily feminine and asserts that politics is a multilingual activity whether in Trowbridge Town Council, Capitol Hill USA. or the European Parliament, Strasbourg. The volume will interest readers with a concern for: women and politics, language and politics, the EU and the European Parliament, democracy and citizenship. Hilary Footitt is an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Stirling.