Petra Meier

Die vorliegende Sekundäranalyse bietet - auf der Basis aktuellen Datenmaterials - eine vergleichende Dokumentation von Interessen, Lebensführung und Teilhabechancen junger Frauen und junger Männer. Im Mittelpunkt der Aufmerksamkeit stehen die 14- bis 23-Jährigen, also die ,jungen' Jugendlichen und deren jeweilige Handlungsspielräume. Vergleiche zu anderen Altersgruppen werden ebenso hergestellt wie Vergleiche zwischen west- und ostdeutschen jungen Frauen und Männern. Darüber hinaus werden wichtige langfristige Trends benannt. Die einzelnen Kapitel liefern eine komprimierte Darstellung zur Entwicklung der Chancengleichheit in Bildung, Ausbildung und im Übergang zum Beruf und beschrieben Trends in den privaten Lebensformen junger Frauen und Männer. Zudem bieten sie einen Überblick über den Umfang und die Gestaltung von Freizeit und fragen nach dem gesellschaftspolitischem Engagement junger Frauen und Männer. Weiterhin liefern sie Daten über die Gesundheits- und Lebensrisiken junger Frauen und junger Männer und beschreiben die Delinquenzbelastung im Geschlechtsvergleich.

The third edition of this highly respected text covers the numerous political developments that have taken place in Belgium since 2012. This book covers topics such as the implementation of the sixth state reform, the rebranding of political parties with new party leaders, several elections at all levels of government (from local to European) leading to new governing coalitions, democratic innovations in several parliaments and, of course, the impact of the COVID-19 crisis and the challenges of climate changes on all political and social institutions. Key features: Gives an even-handed and analytically sophisticated account of contemporary Belgium politics. Explains the background to the territorial divide between a Dutch-speaking north and a French-speaking south that has shaped the political system and led to polarized communities and the need for institutional responses to internal conflict. Provides a thorough example of a consociational democracy, and shows how this form of democratic government, along with Belgium’s particular federal system has provided a basis – most of the time – to govern a deeply divided country. Provides a comprehensive picture of Belgian politics which helps answer the question of whether Belgium – and indeed other divided societies – can be governed in a legitimate democratic manner. This text is essential reading to students and scholars of Belgian politics and society, democracy and democratic innovations, political systems, and more broadly to European and comparative politics.

The third edition of this highly respected text covers the numerous political developments that have taken place in Belgium since 2012. This book covers topics such as the implementation of the sixth state reform, the rebranding of political parties with new party leaders, several elections at all levels of government (from local to European) leading to new governing coalitions, democratic innovations in several parliaments and, of course, the impact of the COVID-19 crisis and the challenges of climate changes on all political and social institutions. Key features: Gives an even-handed and analytically sophisticated account of contemporary Belgium politics. Explains the background to the territorial divide between a Dutch-speaking north and a French-speaking south that has shaped the political system and led to polarized communities and the need for institutional responses to internal conflict. Provides a thorough example of a consociational democracy, and shows how this form of democratic government, along with Belgium’s particular federal system has provided a basis – most of the time – to govern a deeply divided country. Provides a comprehensive picture of Belgian politics which helps answer the question of whether Belgium – and indeed other divided societies – can be governed in a legitimate democratic manner. This text is essential reading to students and scholars of Belgian politics and society, democracy and democratic innovations, political systems, and more broadly to European and comparative politics.

What is symbolic representation? Since Hanna Pitkin’s seminal The Concept of Representation, the symbolic has been the least studied dimension of political representation. Innovatively adopting a discursive approach, this book - the first full-length treatment of symbolic representation - focuses on gender issues to tackle important questions such as: What are women and men symbols of, and how is gender constructed in policy discourse? It studies what functions symbolic representation fulfils in the construction of gender, what social roles get legitimized in policy discourse, and how this affects power constellations, ultimately revealing much about the relation between symbolic, descriptive, and substantive representation. Emanuela Lombardo and Petra Meier draw on theories of symbolic representation and gender, as well as rich primary material about political debates on labour and care issues, partnership and reproductive rights, gender violence, and quotas. Using this original data, the authors show that reconsidering symbolic representation from a discursive perspective makes explicit issues of (in)equality embedded within particular constructions, as well as their consequences for political representation and gender equality. This important exploration raises relevant new questions regarding the representation of gender that form valuable contributions to the fields of political science, political theory, sociology, and gender studies.

What is symbolic representation? Since Hanna Pitkin’s seminal The Concept of Representation, the symbolic has been the least studied dimension of political representation. Innovatively adopting a discursive approach, this book - the first full-length treatment of symbolic representation - focuses on gender issues to tackle important questions such as: What are women and men symbols of, and how is gender constructed in policy discourse? It studies what functions symbolic representation fulfils in the construction of gender, what social roles get legitimized in policy discourse, and how this affects power constellations, ultimately revealing much about the relation between symbolic, descriptive, and substantive representation. Emanuela Lombardo and Petra Meier draw on theories of symbolic representation and gender, as well as rich primary material about political debates on labour and care issues, partnership and reproductive rights, gender violence, and quotas. Using this original data, the authors show that reconsidering symbolic representation from a discursive perspective makes explicit issues of (in)equality embedded within particular constructions, as well as their consequences for political representation and gender equality. This important exploration raises relevant new questions regarding the representation of gender that form valuable contributions to the fields of political science, political theory, sociology, and gender studies.