The Intersectional Tightrope: Experiences of Ethnic Minority MPs

• In Event: Gender, Race, and Running for Office

Abstract

The presence of ethnic and racial minorities in national elected offices is gradually increasing. While minorities with citizenship in theory have equal rights, the political norm is male and white. How do politicians themselves translate a minority background into political action and expectations? Drawing on feminist and critical race scholarship, this paper develops an intersectional framework to understand and conceptualize how minority politicians navigate gender and ethnic differences. Taking the Netherlands as its case, I study all 56 MPs with a migration background that ever held a seat in parliament between 1986-2016, covering a period of 30 years. Drawing on roughly 50 in-depth interviews with politicians and political gatekeepers as well as content analysis of maiden speeches and newspaper coverage I study 1) top-down representation of minority politicians by political parties and the media, 2) self-representation of intersectional identities in their political work, 3) bottom-up experiences and strategies as ‘space-invaders’.

Author

• Liza Mugge, University of Amsterdam