femocrat AusE

The network of femocrat structures is growing at both state and Commonwealth levels.

Our analysis of the Australian femocrat strategy confirms these facts at the state level as well.

For example, the bureaucratic cultures of the Australian states and the federal government encouraged advocacy, making the femocrat project acceptable.

A third shift affecting the position of the femocrat, is the theoretical engagement in feminist work with post-modernism.

Indeed, it is not clear whether all the 25- year-old Commonwealth structures that made the original femocrat strategy so distinctive will survive.

In their Introduction, the editors note the femocrat phenomenon, the broader engagement of feminism with the state, and the attention to embodiment.

The English-speaking movement has been wary of partisan involvement and of a full-blown femocrat strategy.

There were no feminist women in cabinet, but there was femocrat machinery from previous Labor regimes that had a woman premier.

Even though we sometimes came at issues from slightly different perspectives, given that I was a femocrat and she was a feminist lobbyist (a femolob?)

They remain committed to the femocrat strategy, even in periods of anti-feminist governments, on the grounds that there is always somewhere that gains can be made.

First, the women’s bureaucratic machinery, which developed more or less topsy-turvy in Canada at the federal level, differed significantly from the original femocrat model of state feminism.

In this advisory committee, "diversity" was promoted through the appointment of one non-English speaking woman (of Greek and business origin) as a senior femocrat.

Women’s groups may need to disrupt that pattern and begin to take more initiative in building relationships with public servants willing to play the femocrat role on specific issues.

The Femocrat Model of State Feminism Why Bother with State Feminism?

Femocrat Lynn Sproule (1998) has argued that women activists and femocrats must stop focussing exclusively on the negative aspects of state feminist relationships.

Majoritarianism in movement approaches to public policy is most evident in Quebec where a vigorous movement enjoys significant access to effective policy machinery and strong femocrat structures.

Edwards, Meredith Femocrat extrordinaire, responsible for ground-breaking research into the household distribution of money, now Deputy Vice Chancellor, University of Canberra.

Femocrat projects are successful where, and to the extent that, they obtain a favourable institutional position and develop strategies to circumvent the potency of neutrality as a core bureaucratic value.

Analyzing the Impact of Globalization on Femocrat Strategies: The Australian Example Australians are less exposed to the impact of globalization than Canadians.

In Australia (as well as Newfoundland which adopted a similar model), public servants involved in femocrat units were recruited directly from women’s organizations or had feminist credentials and so enjoyed considerable legitimacy.

Most important, this includes a network of femocrats around the country who remain within the femocrat services (moving from state to state or between state and Commonwealth) and who consider themselves "the voice of the women's movement."

The Femocrat Model of State Feminism In the 1970s, a relationship developed between Australian women’s movements and the Whitlam Labor Government that has become known as the femocrat strategy.

The Growing Importance of Provincial/Territorial and Local Governments Analyzing the Impact of Globalization on Femocrat Strategies: The Australian Example Meeting the Challenges of Diversity Bureaucratic Culture and Women's Advocacy:

For example, in Quebec, as we document, the status of women council and other femocrat structures have a solid reputation among women’s groups and a much stronger record for delivering access, research and financial support to women’s groups seeking relief from violence than their federal counterparts.

Indeed, if there had not been significant changes in the political opportunity structure as a consequence of globalization and international pressure to introduce gender-based analysis, women's groups would likely have dismissed efforts to achieve change for women through a femocrat strategy as a failure, at least at the federal level.