The network covers the following areas of studies and research:

• Women’s political empowerment (political representation, social move-ments)

• Policy changes and gendered rights (civil, political and social citizen-ship and violence against women)

• Labour market (gender segregation, equal pay, unemployment)

• Migration (including migrating care workers)

• Media, communication and cultural debates

• Religion

The purpose of the network is three-fold: 

• To contribute to the development of research in the field of women in political life.

• To facilitate the exchange of theories, methodological approaches and empirical findings between young Arab and Nordic scholars.

• To facilitate contacts between senior and junior researchers in the field. Thus, the network will be of vital help to young scholars who are looking for international research contacts and who are in want of add-itional external supervision capacity.

Activities and Resources

• The network will assist young scholars with establishing new research contacts and will provide additional academic supervising opportun-ities by Arab and Nordic senior researchers.

• Two PhD seminars (one in Denmark, 1-3 November 2010 and one in Fez, Morocco 30 September - 2 Oct 2011) for Master, PhD, and postdoc students from the Middle East, North Africa, and the Nordic countries.

• An online forum for network members on KVINFO’s three-language (Arab, English, Danish) website: http://www.womendialogue.org

• Four scholarships (2010-2011) will be available for Arab PhD students wishing to study one semester at Aalborg University in Denmark.

The working language of the network is English.

How to Join

Master Students, PhD Students and Postdoc Scholars: Everybody within the target group may join the network. The network is primarily aimed at PhD students but Master students and Postdoc scholars are also invited to join the network. 

Senior Researchers: Please feel free to join the network, if you are a senior researcher willing to share your experience with and provide feedback to young scholars.

Background

History tells us that research on women in political decisionmaking has been and still is vital for national and transnational NGOs and for public agencies working to enhance women’s position and influence in political life. One central issue is how to change the general under-representation of women in political decision-making which still exist the Arab and Nor¬dic countries.

Understanding the mechanism of exclusion and inclusion has been an important factor behind the high level of women’s representation in the Nordic countries, with an average of 42 % women in Nordic parliaments today. A second central issue is the possibilities of changing the political agenda and making public policies more gender-sensitive. A third central issue is the ideas, strat-egies and effects of the women’s movements and the potential of transnational cooperation. Improvement in women’s political representation and new policy reforms has often been initiated by women’s or¬ganizations. Within all three fields, intra-Arab and intra-Nordic diffusion of best practices is important, as is the exchange of ideas and experiences between the Arab countries and the Nordic countries.

Steering Committee

The network steering committee consists of representatives from the Arab and Nordic countries and the members are responsible for the scientific coordination and quality assurance of the network activities.

For more info about this project

Please contact:

Katarina Blomqvist
Programme Adviser
E-mail: katarina.blomqvist@kvinfo.dk
Tlf: 50 76 33 54
Skype: katarinakvinfo