Democratization and Womens Grassroots Movements
Edited by
Jill M. Bystydzienski
and Joti Sekhon
DEMOCRATIZATION AND WOMENS GRASSROOTS MOVEMENTS
Indiana University Press
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Democratization and womens grassroots movements / edited by Jill
M. Bystydzienski and Joti Sekhon.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-253-33445-4 (cloth : alk. paper).
ISBN 0-253-21279-0 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Women in politics. 2. Women social reformers. 3. Social movements. 4. Democratization. I. Bystydzienski, Jill M., date . II. Sekhon, Joti.
HQ1236.D45 1999
305.42dc21 9848402
1 2 3 4 5 04 03 02 01 00 99
CONTENTS
Jill M. Bystydzienski and Joti Sekhon
Joti Sekhon
Irene Lik Kay Tong
Meredith L. Weiss
Susan Leisure
Khanya Rajuili and Ione Burke
Nimat Hafez Barazangi
Nawal H. Atnmar and Leila S. Lababidy
Elizabeth Cagan
Charles McKelvey
Judy Root Aulette
Jane F. Berthusen Gottlich
Alison E. Woodward and Rita Mulier
Christopher Dale
Alicja Muszynski
Nelda K. Pearson
Ruth Liepins
Joti Sekhon and Jill M. Bystydzienski
The idea for this book evolved over several years of discussion and collaboration between the authors and many others. During both the 1994 and 1995 annual meetings of the Association for Humanist Sociology (AHS) Jill Bystydzienski organized a session on democratization and womens grassroots movements in which Joti Sekhon and several others, including Charles McKelvey, participated. Subsequently, Elizabeth (Beth) Cagan, Judy Aulette, Nawal Ammar, and Christopher Dale joined our discussions and agreed to contribute to an anthology. We then sought the participation of scholars and activists outside AHS. We are both grateful to the AHS for providing an intellectual environment that encouraged and supported the development of ideas that went into making this project a reality. We also want to acknowledge the work of all the contributors in making this volume truly global in scope.
Joti Sekhons field work in India in 1992, 1995, and 1997 was invaluable not only in writing the chapter on Action India, but also in developing conceptual insights that inform this project. The women associated with Action India shared their lives and work, and taught her important lessons in grassroots activism. Her family in India, as well as her husband, Alan, and son, Imran, in the United States, supported her work throughout with love and understanding. And Greensboro College provided professional development funds to assist in the research. To all she is very grateful.
Democratization and Womens Grassroots Movements
Jill M. Bystydzienski and Joti Sekhon
Considerable attention has been directed in recent years to democratization worldwide, especially in the aftermath of the fall of communist regimes in East-Central Europe and dictatorships in Latin America. Most of the focus, however, has been on state-level activities, political elections, and the move toward capitalist markets. Moreover, while numerous persons have studied and written about social movements, including womens movements, no systematic analysis of grassroots movement organizations and actions has been done in relation to democratic processes at the micro and macro levels.
This book attempts to fill a gap in the existing scholarship and literature by providing an examination of the connections between womens local-level political and social actions and processes of democratization at the state, regional, and global levels. In presenting a collection of case studies from around the world, we illustrate how community-based actions, programs, and organizations that allow women to determine their lives and participate in decision making contribute to the creation of a civil society as well as directly influence, and are influenced by, key political, economic, and cultural institutions.
In this introduction, we problematize and define the concepts of democracy and democratization, discuss three major approaches to democracy (liberal, Marxist/socialist, and direct-participatory), theorize the link between democratization and womens grassroots movements, and provide an overview of the book.
Democracy and Democratization
As we approach the end of the second millennium, more people than ever before in human history live in countries whose governments profess to be democratic. Democracy, we are told by the mass media, public figures, and academic scholars, is not only entrenched and safe in the West, but is currently sweeping the countries of East and Central Europe, Africa, Latin America, as well as Asia. However, the idea and practice of democracy, subject of debate and struggle for well over two hundred years, continues to be deeply problematic.
At a time when democracy is supposedly spreading around the world, great disparities between rich and poor people, and between wealthy and impoverished countries, challenge the notion of popular control of governance. Centralization of power in the hands of corporations and regional and world bodies outside existing states has reduced citizen input in decisions that profoundly affect peoples lives. And many women, the poor, as well as ethnic, religious, and other groups in numerous countries continue to be excluded from meaningful political participation.
A central problem facing those who wish to understand democratic ideals, practices, and processes is that of definition and interpretation. Historically, the notion of democracy has undergone much change in theory and practice. More than two thousand years ago, the philosopher Aristotle coined the term democracy, meaning rule by the people, when he distinguished three basic patterns of government, the two others being rule by the few (oligarchy) and rule by one person (monarchy) (Markoff, 1996: xiv). Aristotle, as well as Plato, did not see democracy as the preferred form of government, but rather as an aberration from the standard of good government with which popular self-government was not identified (Parry and Moran, 1994: 23). Plato rejected democracys leveling doctrine (Macpherson, 1966: 5), and the term was rarely applied to existing governments until the eighteenth century (Markoff, 1996: xiv).
