III. SUSTENTO PEDAGÓGICO
3.1. Concepción de educación
The inability of existing theories to express the full impact of the rise of the contemporary feminist movement is a constant theme in academic feminist writing:
We have stretched the intended domains of these theories, reinterpreted their central claims, or borrowed their concepts and categories to make visible women’s lives and feminist views of gender relations. After our
Technological Change in Federal Communications Policy: The Role of Industry Advisory Groups,’ In Policy Change and Learning: An Advocacy Coalition Approach, Paul Sabatier and Hank Jenkins-Smith (eds.), (Boulder CO: Westview Press, 1993), 129-146.
246 H. Theodore Heintz, ‘Advocacy Coalitions and the OCS Leasing Debate: A Case Study in
Policy Evolution,’ Policy Sciences 21 (1988), 213-238; Hanne Mawhinney, ‘An Advocacy Coalition Approach to Change in Canadian Education,’ In Policy Change and Learning: An
Advocacy Coalition Approach, Paul Sabatier and Hank Jenkins-Smith (eds.), (Boulder CO:
Westview Press, 1993), 59-82; John Munro, ‘California Water Politics: Explaining Policy Change in a Cognitively Polarized Subsystem,’ In Policy Change and Learning: An
Advocacy Coalition Approach, Paul Sabatier and Hank Jenkins-Smith (eds.), (Boulder CO:
Westview Press, 1993): 105-127.
247 I will base this on my participant observation of the feminist movement in Australia since
1975.
248 Dahlerup suggests there are three ‘signs’ of feminist influence on established politics: the
ideas of the movement become absorbed by society; the leaders of the movement are co- opted into the mainstream of politics and society; and the former marginal groups (women) succeeds in gaining access and influence. D. Dahlerup, ‘Introduction,’ 16.
labours, these theories often do not much resemble what their nonfeminist creators and users had in mind, to put the point mildly.249
The three-factor model of the influence of feminism on public policy is no exception to this rule. The previous two chapters of this thesis have drawn upon feminist, and policy, theory and case studies to explicate each of the three factors and their interactions with each other. The complete three-factor model of the influence of feminism on public policy is illustrated in Figure 2.2 below.
The activity of national feminism is the result of the ‘three aspects of contemporary feminism’: material dynamics, normative philosophies, and analytical perspectives (see Figure 1.1). The material dynamics of feminism determine the visibility and scope of feminist influence upon public policy. The strength of this feminist women’s movement varies over time (see Table 1.1). The normative philosophies of feminism determine the strategies used by feminist groups to influence public policy and varies depending upon the mix of groups within the coalition (see Table 1.2). The analytical perspectives of feminism determine the coalition’s interpretation of public policy: their attempts to define, analyse, and use information in attempting to change that policy (see Table 1.3).
FIGURE 2.2 The Three-factor Model of the Influence of Feminism on Public Policy Policy Subsystem Feminist Activity Analytical Material Normative Strength Strategies Interpretation National Receptivity Political Social Economic Representation Reflection Reward Policy Type Gender Conflict Feminist
Involvement RelationsPower
The receptivity of the national site of policy is the result of three ‘systemic factors’: political, social, and economic (see Table 2.1). Each national system contains both stable and dynamic factors, differing in their strength or weakness (capacity) and their permeability to feminist activity. Each of these systemic factors has implications for policy relating to the status of women: the (political) representation of women’s interests, the (social) reflection or women’s experience, and the (economic) reward for women’s work. These implications go beyond any particular subsystem and therefore form similarities across subsystems within the same country. While a tendency for ‘patriarchal equilibrium’ exists, cumulative change can be achieved if feminist activity reaches a critical point. The importance of these crises in tipping the balance of power at system or subsystem level was noted in the section discussing social action. They mark turning points in mass understanding and definition of a issue and have significant implications for the perception of policy type.
The type of policy in question is determined by its impact on society (‘power relations’), the degree of feminist involvement, and the scope and intensity of gender conflict (see Table 2.2). The level of conflict generated, whether through gender-related or power-related, will affect the ability of coalitions of policy actors to engage in policy learning. Coalitions will try to redefine policy in order
to reduce conflict within the subsystem. Because of the effects of policy type, subsystems dealing with the same policies will contain similar coalitions and conflicts across nations.
The policy subsystem is the ground upon which these three factors are played out in the day-to day policy process. This process is best illustrated by the policy subsystem model contained within the ACF (see Figure 2.1). Attempting to capture the empirical interactions involved in feminist influence on public policy involves a feminist pragmatic epistemology and a methodology which, as discussed above, looks for both material and discursive indicators. The interactions which occur within the policy subsystem feedback to feminist activity and national receptivity, again through policy type.
This model does not claim to be anything more than a conceptual tool for analysis. As mentioned above, the subsystem conflicts of policy decision-making and implementation, the production of policy outputs and impacts, and the evaluative process of learning from past experience is accurately and comprehensively discussed in the ACF. The strength of the three-factor model presented in this thesis is that it is the only model of policy analysis that has been specifically designed to analyse the influence of feminism on public policy across policy subsystems, across nations, and across time. A number of propositions may also be drawn from this model. These are listed in Table 2.3 below.
The policy subsystem is the ground upon which the three-factor model of the influence of feminism on public policy is played out. During the next six chapters of this thesis, the policy activity which has occurred over the last thirty years, in relation to equal pay and abortion, will be described and examined for evidence of feminist influence. The presence and strength of feminist coalitions in the policy subsystems; the spread of acceptance of some of the principal tenets of feminism within the policy discourse; the passage of policy that would fulfil feminist goals; and the impacts of that policy toward achieving those goals; these are all indicators which underpin the three-factor model. In the final chapter of this thesis the utility of this model will be assessed by comparing the propositions generated by the model with the evidence presented in the case studies.
TABLE 2.3. Propositions Drawn From the Three-Factor Model of the Influence of Feminism on Public Policy
1. The material dynamics of the feminist cycle of protest will determine the strength (visibility and scope) of feminist policy activity.
2. Feminist strength is greatest during the time of movement proliferation as this is the point of broadest scope and highest visibility.
3. The normative philosophies of feminism will determine the strategies used to influence public policy.
4. Feminist strategies are most effective when a number of strategies are used simultaneously by coalitions of feminist groups.
5. The analytical perspectives of feminism will determine the way in which feminists attempt to interpret (define and analyse) public policy.
6. Feminist analytical perspectives are of most importance when pragmatic use is made of accumulated knowledge.
7. The overall significance of the material, normative, and analytical aspects of feminism is to show the activity of national feminism across time.
8. Each national system raises questions as to the status of women: the adequate (political) representation of women’s interests, the realistic (social) reflection of women’s experience, and the fair (economic) reward for women’s work.
9. While national dynamic factors are more open to feminist influence (‘permeability’), the strength or weakness (‘capacity’) of these factors will affect the ability of feminism to influence public policy.
10. Although national systemic factors tend to a ‘patriarchal equilibrium’, cumulative change is possible if feminists reach a critical level of activity, or a crisis occurs, which tips the balance of power, at system or subsystem level.
11. The overall significance of the receptivity of the national site of policy is to show how national political, social and economic systemic factors create similarities across subsystems.
12. Coalitions will try to redefine policy in order to reduce conflict.
PART 2
IRELAND
CHAPTER 3