Working at becoming a communist’

Institutional belonging and political self-making of women in the Communist Party of India (Marxist)

Bibliographic Data

ID12677264
AuthorsProma Ray Chaudhury (0000-0001-7254-8495, Dublin City University, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume61
Issue1
Pages36-64
Publication date2023-01-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueCommonwealth and Comparative Politics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1466-2043 • E-ISSN: 1743-9094
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14662043.2023.2169364
OpenAlexW4320495525
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited41

Gendered relations of power contribute to the signification inherent in political parties. The formal rules and informal processes through which hegemonic gender regimes are reproduced and contested in the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) are subjected to Feminist Institutionalist analysis here. In addition, the institutional belonging and political self-making of women party members are also assessed in the state of West Bengal. The experiential concepts of institutional belonging and self-making can enhance Feminist institutionalist research by identifying the processes that shape gendered behaviour of actors in institutions. The idealised revolutionary communist subjectivity that represents the institutional standard of appropriateness of gendered behaviour in the CPI(M) is explored. The co-constitutive relationship between institutions and political subjectivities is elaborated. The paper argues that the institutional belonging and political self-making of women in the CPI(M) are characterised by a politics of boundary-creation from as well as horizontal solidarities with fellow women colleagues.KEYWORDS: Gender and party politicsfeminist institutionalismWest Bengalsouth Asiacommunism AcknowledgementsI am very grateful to my PhD supervisors Dr Kenneth McDonagh and Prof Eileen Connolly for their mentorship of the research project which has brought this article to fruition. I thank the journal editor for his valuable guidance on the draft and the three anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments which have enriched this article.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Notes1 Some sources trace the foundation of the undivided Communist Party of India to October 1920 in Tashkent (Communist Party of India (Marxist), Citation2019).2 The AITC and the BJP fielded 48 and 38 women candidates respectively (Lokdhaba, Citation2021).3 A renowned social activist, the General Secretary of the AIDWA and a Central Committee member of the CPI(M), Sangwan registered her vocal protest against the party’s decision to forge a pre-poll alliance with the Indian National Congress (INC) for the 2016 West Bengal Assembly elections. The party leadership expelled her for defying party discipline following her act of walking out in the middle of the Central Committee meeting in protest (Manoj, Citation2016).4 Chhandogya Upanishad (6:2:1).Additional informationFundingThis article is part of the EU H2020 Marie Sklodowska Curie Actions Project [grant number 722446]

Communism · Hegemony · Marxist philosophy · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Sociology · Gender Diversity and Inequality · Gender Politics and Representation · Gender Studies · Historical Gender and Feminism Studies · Law

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