The Dialectics of Universalism and Particularism: World Society, Religious Traditions, and Women’s Political Representation

• In Event: 2460 - Globalization

Abstract

This study develops a theoretical model of macro-cultural identity inspired by the work of George Herbert Mead. The model puts world society theory, which emphasizes the homogenizing effects of “world culture,” into conversation with civilization-analytic perspectives, which contend that religious and civilizational differences grow increasingly salient over time. I regard these approaches as dialectically co-implicated. To test the model, I analyze cross-cultural heterogeneity in the effects of world society linkages on women’s share of parliamentary seats between 1960 and 2010. Countries are grouped into cultural zones based primarily on religious composition and secondary on geographical region. Overall, the results support world society theory, although the processes involved are more dynamic and less uniform than is typically acknowledged. Contrary to civilization-analytic perspectives, cultural resistance to women’s political representation is most pronounced early but fades over time. Despite widespread improvement in women’s representation, there is also little cross-cultural converge, giving rise to a process not typically countenanced by world society theorists: improvement without isomorphism. The study concludes with a refined model of world society effects.

Author

• Wade M. Cole, University of Utah