Gwynn Thomas
PhD
Associate Professor
Department Chair
Interests
Latin America; women’s political participation and leadership; gender and politics; transnational feminism; comparative women’s movements; feminist theory; citizenship and state development
I am passionate about challenging women’s political exclusions in democratic societies. My research on Latin America examines how women’s activism in promoting institutional innovations promotes gender equality in states and political parties.
Education
- PhD, Political Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Books
- Contesting Legitimacy in Chile: Familial Ideals, Citizenship, and Political Struggle, 1970-1990. The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2011. (Reviewed in Journal of Latin American Studies, The Americas, Bulletin of Hispanic Studies, Journal of Family History, Perspectives on Politics.)
Selected Publications
- “Working within a Gendered Political Consensus: Uneven progress on Gender and Sexuality Rights in Chile.” In Elisabeth Jay Friedman, ed. Testing the Transformation. Forthcoming, Duke University Press.
- “Latin America’s Presidentas: Challenging Old Patterns, Forging New Pathways,” with Catherine Reyes-Housholder. In Leslie Schwindt-Bayer, Women, Representation, and Politics in Latin America. (Oxford University Press, 2017).
- “Supermadres, Maternal Legacies, and Women’s Political Participation in Contemporary Latin America,” with Susan Franceschet and Jennifer Piscopo. Journal of Latin American Studies, 48:01 (2016): 1-32.
- “Resisting Parity: Gender and Cabinet Appointments in Chile and Spain,” with Susan Franceschet. Politics & Gender, 11:4 (2015): 643-664.
- “Michelle Bachelet’s Liderazgo Feminino (Feminine Leadership): Gender and Redefining Political Le adership in Chile’s 2005 Presidential Campaign,” International Feminist Journal of Politics. 13 (1), 2011: 63-82.
- “Breaking the Final Glass Ceiling: The Influence of Gender in the Election of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and Michelle Bachelet” with Melinda Adams (equal co-authorship). Journal of Women, Politics and Policy, 31 (2), 2010: 105-131. (Awarded, Top Five Most Read Articles for 2011).
- “Challenging Gender Inequality within the State: Policy Agencies and Quota Laws in Latin America” with Jennifer Piscopo (equal co-authorship). In Tomáš Došek, Flavia Freidenberg, Mariana Caminotti and Betilde Muñoz-Pogossian. Women, Politics, and Democracy in Latin America. (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017).
- “Motherhood and Politics in Latin America: Continuity and Change,” with Susan Franceschet and Jennifer Piscopo. In Melanee Thomas and Amanda Bittner, eds., Mothers and Others: Understanding the Impact of Family Life on Politics, (British Colombia Press, 2017).
- “Promoting Gender Equality: Michelle Bachelet and Formal and Informal Institutional Change within the Chilean Presidency.” In Georgina Waylen, ed. Gender, Institutions and Change in Bachelet’s Chile (New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2016).
- "Un estado más incluyente: La regenerización de la Presidencia en Chile con Michelle Bachelet," in Claudia Mora, ed. Desigualdad en Chile: La Continua Relevancia del Género, (Colección Sociología, Universidad Alberto Hurtado, 2014).
- “Transnational Feminist Activism and Globalizing Women’s Movements” with Melinda Adams (equal co-authorship). In Robert A. Denemark. The International Studies Encyclopedia. (Blackwell Publishing, 2010): 7170-7188.