Gender,Structure,Power:Feminist Institutionalism’s Triple Modifications Of Feminist Political Science

As a fusion product of feminist political science and new institutionalism,feminist institutionalism introduces the analytical tools of new institutionalism into the institutional research of feminist political science,and continues to respond to the theoretical problems of gendered institutions,especially political institutions.However,in view of the research content and identity of this theory,scholars with different disciplinary backgrounds and theoretical interests often have different views.The development and evolution of feminist institutionalism has always been centered on the core issues of feminist political science.Exploring the role of feminist institutionalism in revising feminist political science is helpful to clarify the core propositions of feminist institutionalism,identify the fundamental contributions of feminist institutionalism,and further respond to the ontological and epistemological disputes of feminist institutionalism.Since the 1960 s,feminist political science has gradually defined its own subject scope and research topics.Under the influence of the second wave of feminist social trends,feminist political science has continued to deepen its theories,update its methods,and expand its topics,criticizing and questioning the conceptual basis,analytical paradigm,epistemology and other limitations of political science.However,from the end of the 20 th century to the beginning of the 21 st century,the internal tension and theoretical contradictions of feminist politics became more obvious.Multiple research paths not only failed to form more consensus,but the gap between feminist movement and feminist political theory gradually widened.The contradiction between the single discipline of feminist political science and the diversified research path is endless,and the knowledge output of feminist political science is faced with the conflict between the pursuit of universal law and the exploration of localized experience.In order to solve this inherent tension,some feminist political scholars draw on the methodological model from the new institutionalism theory,promote the “institutional turn” of feminist political science,create the feminist institutionalism and constantly enhance the identity of this approach.Feminist institutionalism,from revises the theoretical issues of feminist politics from the three dimensions,which contains gender,structure and power,this approach bridges the internal tension of feminist political science.In the aspect of revising the gender analysis of feminist political science,feminist institutionalists reflect on the research of “women and politics” and the behavioristic political science,in their view,the research on “women and politics” and the research on gender as a category both have an essentialist tendency and divide the concept of gender.The research on causality under the guidance of methodological individualism can at most explain the correlation between gender and political results,but it is not helpful to explain how gender as an independent variable exerts causality mechanism.Feminist institutionalists revise the “gender as category” emphasized by previous studies with “gender as process”.It further affirms the field of application of gender as a process and its causal mechanisms,the research focus shifts from individual factors to institutional factors,the analysis level shifts from the macro level to the meso level,and the interpretation logic shifts from exploring the unidirectional relationship between individuals and political results to examining the mutual shaping of gendered institutions and actors,the approach focus on the gender differential effects of gendered institutions and the reshaping of policy outcomes by gender actors.In the aspect of revising the structural analysis of feminist political science,feminist political scholars have long paid attention to structural elements,and summarized the structure into mono-type structure,multi-type structure,dual-type structure and other types from a relatively macro level.However,feminist politics affected by behaviorist analysis paradigm has ignored the important role of structural elements as a whole.Feminist institutionalists reflect on the limitations of macro structural analysis from the middle dimension,question the drawbacks of behaviorism-oriented feminist politics,and examine how institutions are gendered,how gendered institutions connect the macro analysis level and the micro analysis level,and how different types of gendered institutions work together.Feminist institutionalists explain the analytical advantages of gendered institutions,examine the interactive relationship between gendered institutions and gendered actors with a “bounded agency” analytical model,and distinguish the causal role of gendered networks as the connecting point of the two.Feminist institutionalists also explore the differences between formal institutions and informal institutions,as well as the characteristics of formal institutions and informal institutions in the process of gendered,and on this basis explain the complementarity and conflict between gendered formal institutions and informal institutions,and how to dynamically shape the gender status quo.In the aspect of revising the power analysis of feminist political science,feminist political scholars takes power as the focus of analysis,they explains the connotation of power and the function process of power relations from the perspectives of resource theory,domination theory and empowerment theory.Feminist institutionalists reflect on the analytical limitations of the previous studies on gendered power,and promote the positivism turn of power analysis in feminist political science,and test their theories.Feminist institutionalists have explored how the view of diffused power emphasized in previous studies can be integrated with the view of asymmetric power held by new institutionalists,and creatively examined how asymmetric gendered power relations are generated and changed.They explore the specific mechanisms of the creation of new institutions and the setting of power relations,the implementation of institutions and the consolidation of power relations,the legitimacy of institutions and the maintenance of power relations.This approach also discusses the mechanism of change and subversion of gendered power relations in the process of institutional change and institutional resistance.After examining the revision effect of feminist institutionalism on feminist political science,it is also necessary to examine the theoretical contribution of the triple revision effect of feminist institutionalism,explain the theoretical disputes existing in the ontology,epistemology and methodology of feminist institutionalism,and examine how feminist institutionalism promotes theoretical construction with gender as a method,and discuss the enlightening ideas of feminist institutionalism in constructing “caring institutions”.