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Dissertation Information for Andrea Levan

NAME:
- Andrea Levan

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Women's Studies

SCHOOL:
- York University (USA) (1999)

ADVISORS:
- Linda Briskin

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- Patricia McDermott
- Patricia M. Evans
- Jane Couchman
- Caroline Andrew

MPACT Status: Fully Complete

Title: Shattered window, shut doors: The Canadian Panel on Violence Against Women as a case study of feminist engagement with the state

Abstract: This dissertation examines the Canadian Panel on Violence Against Women 1991-1993 as a case study of feminist engagement with the state. It traces the political and social terrain which resulted in the establishment of the Panel, examines the source of conflicts during the Panel\\\\\\\'s work which resulted in five major women\\\\\\\'s groups withdrawing their support, and assesses the Panel\\\\\\\'s overall impact. Data for this study were collected from media accounts of the Panel, interviews with twenty-five participants, and the examination of records in the National Archives of Canada.

The Panel was established in response to a sense of crisis created by three areas of conflict which had been building in the women\\\\\\\'s movement during the 1980s: contested struggles to conceptualize violence against women which culminated in public debates about the issue after the Montreal massacre; differing feminist approaches to dealing with the state which had become more divisive as relations between women\\\\\\\'s organizations and the Mulroney government deteriorated; and internal stresses within the women\\\\\\\'s movement, especially over issues of diversity, resulting in extensive debates over process and representation within organizations.

This study demonstrates that conflicts were heightened rather than ameliorated because of serious structural flaws which enforced hierarchical patterns of interaction, made communication between groups difficult, and isolated and disempowered, individuals. State practices of representation that tokenized some women as \\\\\\\"representatives\\\\\\\" who had no need to be accountable to their constituencies, that reinforced a system where elite groups spoke for others, were at the root of many of the Panel\\\\\\\'s problems. The mandated strategy of community consultation created severe time and emotional pressures and served to undermine the authority of women\\\\\\\'s organizations who were doing anti-violence work. In addition, the Panel was unable to develop processes that were compatible with both bureaucratic and feminist norms. A detailed examination of issues of process and representation within the Panel gives important insights into contemporary feminist organizing in other contexts.

To some extent, the Panel has mediated the conflicts to which it responded. Feminist discourse on violence against women has been superficially taken up by the state, although no substantive changes in public policy have occurred. Understanding of how feminists should engage with the state has been fundamentally altered. Within the women\\\\\\\'s movement, while some women have been alienated by the confrontations with the state, others believe that solidarity has been strengthened as the practices of some groups were changed to be more inclusive of marginalized women.

MPACT Scores for Andrea Levan

A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-02-25 03:01:37

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