Women as Constitution-Makers

Case Studies from the New Democratic Era

Ruth Rubio-Marín, Helen Irving

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN:
  9781108492775
• eBook ISBN:
  9781108637923
• Topic: Law
• Subtopic: Public Law
• Index: Law

That a constitution should express the will of 'the people' is a long-standing principle, but the identity of 'the people' has historically been narrow. Women, in particular, were not included. A shift, however, has recently occurred. Women's participation in constitution-making is now recognised as a democratic right. Women's demands to have their voices heard in both the processes of constitution-making and the text of their country's constitution, are gaining recognition. Campaigning for inclusion in their country's constitution-making, women have adopted innovative strategies to express their constitutional aspirations. This collection offers, for the first time, comprehensive case studies of women's campaigns for constitutional equality in nine different countries that have undergone constitutional transformations in the 'participatory era'. Against a richly-contextualised historical and political background, each charts the actions and strategies of women participants, both formal and informal, and records their successes, failures and continuing hopes for constitutional equality.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title
• Title page
• Copyright information
• Contents
• Notes on Contributors
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction: Women as Constitution-Makers: The Promises and the Challenges of Participation
• 1 Women's Movements and the Recognition of Gender Equality in the Constitution-Making Process in Morocco and Tunisia (2011-2014)
• 2 Women and Constitution-Making in Post-Communist Romania
• 3 Re-Living Yesterday's Battles: Women and Constitution-Making in Post-Saddam Iraq
• 4 Women's Participation in Peace-Building and Constitution-Making in Somalia
• 5 Feminist Legalism: Colombian Constitution-Making in the 1990s
• 6 Women and Constitution-Making in Turkey: From Ottoman Modernism to a Constitutionalism of Women's Platform
• 7 Egypt's Tale of Two Constitutions: Diverging Gendered Processes and Outcomes
• 8 Dialogic Democracy, Feminist Theory and Women's Participation in Constitution-Making
• Index