Academic activism and feminist reform in the UK Parliament
with Sarah Childs
This episode takes a different approach as we explore the experience of being a feminist academic in the UK Parliament with Sarah Childs (University of Edinburgh, UK). Sarah discusses The Good Parliament report, which aims to make the House of Commons more inclusive, and the role of a "feminist academic critical actor" in driving institutional change. We hear about her challenges in trying to reform this male-dominated environment.
Episode based on the article
Gender Sensitizing Parliaments: Reflections on Becoming a Feminist Academic Critical Actor
By Sarah Childs
Podcast Version
About the Speaker
Sarah Childs is a personal chair of politics and gender at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. The author of four research monographs (New Labour’s Women MPs, 2004; Women and British Party Politics, 2008; and Sex Gender and the Conservative Party, with Paul Webb, 2012), her most recent, award-winning book is Feminist Democratic Representation, co-authored with Karen Celis (published in 2020). Sarah is currently finalizing her fifth book: Designing and Building Feminist Institutions: The Making of the Good Parliament.