Abstract

TAPIA MURO, Cristina. Women in political clientelism: A rereading of the phenomenon from the perspective of gender. Intersticios sociales [online]. 2022, n.23, pp.115-140.  Epub Apr 04, 2022. ISSN 2007-4964.  https://doi.org/10.55555/is.23.426.

Political clientelism is a phenomenon that has been widely researched due to its prevalence and importance; however, analyses from a gender perspective have received scarce attention. The aim of this article is to reinterpret clientelist dynamics in light of feminist theory, using gender as an analytical category to make the resulting power relations between men and women visible. The text begins with a literature review, followed by a theoretical and conceptual analysis of clientelism. The third part presents an analysis of political clientelism from the perspective of feminist theory in relation to the Mexican context. As a main result, feminist theory is identified as a useful tool for understanding the role of women in clientelist dynamics. The study reveals that this has been determined by gender roles and stereotypes that foster increasing inequality and, often, women’s subordination in the political arena. Finally, we propose the concept of the “political subsidy of gender”.

Keywords : clientelism; women; gender; feminism.