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Palgrave Macmillan

Gendering the Everyday in the UK House of Commons

Beneath the Spectacle

  • Book
  • © 2021

Overview

  • Explores the reproduction of gender ‘beneath the spectacle’ – that is, beneath ceremonial displays of power, in the UK House of Commons
  • Conceives of the House of Commons as a workplace, as well as a representative arena
  • Examines the everyday consequences for gendered power relations that this unique environment entails, as parliamentary actors perform their careers, citizenship, and public service

Part of the book series: Gender and Politics (GAP)

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Table of contents (8 chapters)

  1. Conceptualising and Researching Gendered Parliaments

  2. Gendering the UK House of Commons

Keywords

About this book

This book explores the reproduction of gender ‘beneath the spectacle’ – that is, beneath ceremonial displays of power, in the UK House of Commons. Contributing to a fascinating literature on gender and parliaments, the book conceives of the House of Commons as a workplace, as well as a representative arena. It explores the everyday consequences for gendered power relations that this unique environment entails, as parliamentary actors perform their careers, citizenship, and public service.

The book firstly explores ways to conceive of and to study gender in parliaments. Parliamentary ethnography – that is, spending time observing and engaging with parliamentary actors, is presented as an unparalleled methodology to better understand gender, power, and agency. The chapters that follow provide in-depth portrayals of gender and the parliamentary workplace. The book connects multiple actors in the House of Commons: MPs, officials, parliamentary researchers, and the (in)formal rulesthat structure the relationships between them.

Reviews

‘This reflexive, innovative, and engaging book crucially improves our understanding of how informal gendered power norms are daily reproduced in Parliament. The bridging of Judith Butler’s theory of performativity with feminist discursive institutionalism allows Cherry Miller to successfully ‘add flesh’ to discursive institutionalism, ethnographically documenting how gender is ‘done’ in parliamentary practices. Everyday gendered embodiment of power in institutional contexts becomes clear and ‘material’ in this path-breaking book that significantly advances gender and politics theories.’ —Emanuela Lombardo, Madrid Complutense University, Spain 

‘Cherry Miller lifts the lid on the House of Commons from a new and exciting perspective. She covers a diversity of actors and issues, and gets close up to a world that is often hidden. Miller’s unique access to the world at Westminster is reflected in rich detail, anecdotes and stories that pervade this book. It provides us with new insights into how we can understand and interpret how everyday, gendered practices shape parliamentary behaviour. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in parliaments and gender.’ 
Marc Geddes, The University of Edinburgh, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  • Faculty of Social Sciences, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland

    Cherry M. Miller

About the author

Dr. Cherry M. Miller is Postdoctoral Researcher at Tampere University, Finland. She was the winner of the 2019 European Consortium of Political Research, Joni Lovenduski PhD Prize in Gender and Politics. Her research is published in the European Journal of Politics and Gender, Parliamentary Affairs, and Political Studies Review.


Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Gendering the Everyday in the UK House of Commons

  • Book Subtitle: Beneath the Spectacle

  • Authors: Cherry M. Miller

  • Series Title: Gender and Politics

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64239-6

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham

  • eBook Packages: Political Science and International Studies, Political Science and International Studies (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-64238-9Published: 12 March 2021

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-64241-9Published: 13 March 2022

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-64239-6Published: 11 March 2021

  • Series ISSN: 2662-5814

  • Series E-ISSN: 2662-5822

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XVI, 323

  • Number of Illustrations: 3 b/w illustrations

  • Topics: Politics and Gender, European Politics, Gender Studies

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