An intersectional analysis of contestations within women’s movements

The case of Scottish domestic abuse policymaking

Bibliographic Data

ID6326326
AuthorsLeah Mccabe (0000-0002-5669-0085, University of Edinburgh, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume52
Issue3
Pages521-545
Publication date2024-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePolicy & Politics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0305-5736 • E-ISSN: 1470-8442
PublisherBristol University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1332/03055736y2023d000000021
OpenAlexW4390095887
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited87

While policy scholars have elaborated on the ways in which social movements operate within discursive struggles over meaning-making to generate policy change, less attention has been paid to contestations within movements. This oversight is remarkable given that the process of shaping shared understandings and framings of policy problems is political and, thus, a site of epistemic power struggles. This article offers sharpened analytical tools to study internal framing politics, advancing an integrated feminist institutionalist approach. It empirically demonstrates the merits of this approach by applying it to a so-called ‘feminist policy success’ case: Scottish domestic abuse policymaking. Domestic abuse experts often hail Scottish domestic abuse policies as ‘world-leading’ due to their gendered and feminist policy constructions, which can be credited to successful feminist mobilisation around devolution. However, this article disrupts the dominant narrative by teasing out for whom the framing of policy has been a success within the movement, uncovering points of contention. Drawing on policy analysis and elite interviews, the study identifies and traces an enduring intramovement contestation around the dominance of gendered frames and subsequent marginalisation of intersectionality. It argues that while the women’s movement has made considerable gains in integrating feminist concerns in policy, framing opportunities have not been equally shared, marginalising some actors and their frames. The Scottish case demonstrates how and why we should not underestimate the real and (un)intended consequences of intramovement contestations. Beyond the Scottish context, this article calls for scholars to account for diversities in identity, agency and claims-making within movements

Domestic violence · Elite · Feminism · Feminist movement · Framing (construction · Intersectionality · Narrative · Poison control · Political economy · Political opportunity · Political science · Politics · Social movement · Sociology · Suicide prevention · Gender Politics and Representation · Gender Studies · Intimate Partner and Family Violence · Irish and British Studies · Law

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