Gendering the Everyday in the UK House of Commons : Beneath the Spectacle

This book explores the reproduction of gender 'beneath the spectacle' - that is, beneath ceremonial displays of power, in the UK House of Commons. Contributing to a fascinating literature on gender and parliaments, the book conceives of the House of Commons as a workplace, as well as a representative arena. It explores the everyday consequences for gendered power relations that this unique environment entails, as parliamentary actors perform their careers, citizenship, and public service. The book firstly explores ways to conceive of and to study gender in parliaments. Parliamentary ethnography - that is, spending time observing and engaging with parliamentary actors, is presented as an unparalleled methodology to better understand gender, power, and agency. The chapters that follow provide in-depth portrayals of gender and the parliamentary workplace. The book connects multiple actors in the House of Commons: MPs, officials, parliamentary researchers, and the (in)formal rules that structure the relationships between them. Dr. Cherry M. Miller is Postdoctoral Researcher at Tampere University, Finland. She was the winner of the 2019 European Consortium of Political Research, Joni Lovenduski PhD Prize in Gender and Politics. Her research is published in the European Journal of Politics and Gender, Parliamentary Affairs, and Political Studies Review Acknowledgments Contents Abbreviations and Acronyms List of Figures List of Tables 1 Introduction: Gendering the Everyday in the UK House of Commons—Beneath the Spectacle 1.1 Beneath the Spectacle 1.2 Why the UK House of Commons? 1.3 Gender and Legislative Studies 1.4 Taking an Everyday Lens: What Might an Optics of Parliaments as Workplaces Look like? 1.5 Book Overview References Part I Conceptualising and Researching Gendered Parliaments 2 ‘Fleshing Out’ Feminist Discursive Institutionalism 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Introducing Feminist Discursive Institutionalism 2.3 Fleshing Out Feminist Discursive Institutionalism with Butlerian Concepts 2.3.1 Fleshing Out Feminist Discursive Institutionalism: Key Concepts 2.3.2 Gender(ing) 2.3.3 Formal Aspects 2.3.4 Informal Aspects 2.3.5 Gendering Rules 2.3.6 Performance 2.3.7 Performativity 2.3.8 Descriptive Marks and Gesture 2.3.9 Regulations 2.3.10 Subjectivity 2.3.11 Subversive Agency 2.4 Discussion: Productive Tensions in a ‘Fleshed-Out’ Feminist Discursive Institutionalism 2.5 Conclusion References 3 ‘The Eyes Have It’: Using Parliamentary Ethnography to Examine Gender in the UK House of Commons’ ‘Working Worlds’ 3.1 Parliamentary Ethnography as Methodology 3.2 Logistics of the Parliamentary Ethnography in the UK Parliament 3.2.1 Entry and Access 3.2.2 Participation 3.2.3 Recording 3.2.4 Interviews 3.2.5 Documentary Analysis 3.3 Mapping the ‘Field’: Introducing Three ‘Working Worlds’ of the UK House of Commons 3.4 Conclusion Appendix: Methodological Reflection, Ethnography Butler and Parliaments—Interpretative Parliamentary Ethnography Observations (Elite) Interviews Documentary Analysis References Part II Gendering the UK House of Commons 4 The Discursive Institutions of the UK House of Commons: An Introduction to the Empirical Chapters 4.1 Career Cycle 4.2 Citizenship 4.3 Public Service 4.4 Conclusion References 5 MPs: ‘Players’ and ‘Problems’ 5.1 Performing the Career Cycle—The Select Committee 5.1.1 Rules with Gendered Effects? Elections to Select Committee Chair Positions 5.1.2 Gendered Actors Working with the Rules: Committee Chairs Performing Leadership 5.2 Performing Citizenship 5.2.1 Rules-in-Use with Gendered Effects: Time Management 5.2.2 Gendered Actors Working with the Rules: Domestic Committees of the House of Commons 5.2.3 Gendered Actors Working with the Rules-Politician-Journalist Relations 5.3 Performing Public Service 5.3.1 (Lack of) Rules-in-Form with Gendered Effects, No Job Description 5.3.2 (Lack of/) Rules About Gender: Online and Offline Accountability 5.4 Conclusion References 6 The House Service: ‘Servants’ and ‘Stewards’ 6.1 Career Cycle 6.1.1 Rules with Gendered Effects—The Governance of the House Inquiry 6.1.2 Rule-in-Form with a Gendered Effect—Clerk Circulation 6.2 Citizenship 6.2.1 Gendered Actors Working with the Rules: The Workplace Equality Networks 6.3 Public Service 6.3.1 Inadequacy of Rules-in-Form with Gendered Effects: Valuing Others and Respect Policy 6.3.2 Gendered Actors Working with the Rules: Stewardship: Public Engagement 6.4 Conclusion References 7 Parliamentary Researchers ‘Second Brains’ and ‘Tea-Getters’ 7.1 Career Cycle 7.1.1 Rules with Gendered Effects—Informal Recruitment Processes 7.1.2 Rules with Gendered Effects—Appraisals of Pay Levels and Quality of Work with MPs 7.1.3 Gendered Actors Working with the Rules—Intra- and Inter-Office Relationships 7.1.4 Gendered Actors Working with the Rules—Role Models for Professional Development 7.2 Citizenship 7.2.1 Rule-in-Form with Gendered Effects—The Pass System 7.2.2 Obligatory Rule-in-Use with Gendering Effects: Acquiring Visibility Through Inter-Office Performances 7.2.3 Gendered Actors Working with the Rules: Navigating Workplace Sexuality as a Discourse in the UK House of Commons 7.3 Public Service 7.3.1 Gendered Actors Working with the Rules Around Gender Violence: Informing Strategies and Discourses 7.3.2 Party Campaigning—Rule-in-Use, the Obligation for Parliamentary Researchers to Campaign During Dissolution 7.4 Conclusion References 8 Beneath Mainstream Approaches 8.1 How Is Gender Reproduced and How Does Parliamentary Ethnography Help Us to Understand This? 8.1.1 ‘Rules About Gender’ in the UK House of Commons 8.1.2 ‘Rules with Gendered Effects’ in the UK House of Commons 8.1.3 ‘Gendered Actors Working with the Rules’ in the UK House of Commons 8.1.4 How Does Ethnography Help Us to Explore This? 8.2 How Do Political Actors Respond and What Are the Opportunities for Change? 8.2.1 Level 1 and 2: Troubling the UK House of Commons’ Contingent Foundations 8.2.2 Level 3—Changing the Rules-In-Form and Rules-In-Use of the UK House of Commons 8.2.3 Level 4 Everyday Performances in the UK House of Commons 8.2.4 Level 5: Knowledge Change 8.3 What Does a Feminist Discursive Institutionalist Approach to Parliaments Look like? 8.4 Generalisability to Other Parliaments 8.5 Conclusion References Index