Women Talking Politics is a network promoting communication among cis women, trans women, and non-binary persons working on political issues, their research and events across Aotearoa New Zealand and beyond. It is designed to promote communication among cis women, trans women, and non-binary persons working in national and international politics, Māori and indigenous politics, political theory, public policy, political communication and other related disciplines. It includes cis women, trans women, and non-binary persons teaching, researching or actively engaged in women’s issues and politics more broadly. As such it showcases short pieces about research, news and events around a range of these topics.

Women Talking Politics has been an important source of articles, news and discussion about political thought and action written by women since 1987. Temporarily suspended in 2009, after the Christchurch earthquakes, it was brought back at the 2014 NZPSA Conference in December as a new annual Research Magazine.

Call for papers: TBA

2020 Issue of Women Talking Politics

Co-editors: Lara Greaves & TBC

The aim of Women Talking Politics – a mini-journal produced by the New Zealand Political Studies Association – is to promote the work of women political scientists in New Zealand.

We will be seeking submissions by New Zealand-based women political scientists (both academic staff and postgraduate students) for the following sections:

1. Research Briefs of 200-300 words. These briefs should present research currently in progress. They are intended to highlight the breadth of work being undertaken by women political scientists in New Zealand.

2. Articles of 800-1,000 words. Following the typical article format, these short essays are intended to allow the readership a deeper look into completed or nearly-completed research projects. Articles will go through a blind peer-review process.

3. Book reviews: We invite undergraduate and postgraduate women students enrolled in political science papers in 2020 to submit reviews of books written by women and/or with a feminist angle. Reviews of recent books published in the last 3 years are encouraged.

4. Creative writing: We particularly encourage female undergraduate students enrolled in undergraduate political science papers in 2020 to submit creative writing pieces on politics, social justice movements, environmental activism and other topics with a feminist angle. The word limit for these pieces is flexible, but ideally it should not exceed 800 words.

Please ensure that all submissions adhere to APA referencing style.

Submissions will be accepted on a rolling basis, and should be emailed to admin@nzpsa.co.nz when the call for papers goes out.

Women Talking Politics 2019

2019 Issue of Women Talking Politics

Editor: Sarah Hendrica Bickerton

2019 was a year of local government elections where women took a front seat in many of the contests and often won. We also saw progress domestically around such things as abortion law reform, an updating of the births, deaths, marriages, and relationships act, potential changes to how sexual assault victims are treated in court cases post- the Grace Millane trial. We also saw massive youth-led Climate Strike protests around the world, inspired by the activism of Greta Thunberg, against inaction on global climate change. And a photo from one such protest on the lawn of our Parliament here in New Zealand graces the cover of Women Talking Politics this year.

The journal opens with a piece on the local government elections this year, specifically looking at the question of the ‘womenquake’ of women’s electoral success in the 2019 local government elections, as written by Jean Drage.

The articles cover a spread of topics, from climate politics ten years on from Copenhagen from Raven Cretney & Sylvia Nissen, to the ‘Dunedin Model’ of decriminalised sex work by Peyton Bond, a restorative reorientation of the criminal justice system from Sarah Roth Shank, the EU’s disintegration over refugee responsibility from Laura MacDonald and Ayca Arkilic, and Bethan Greener on pursuing the WPS agenda.

The reflections are a couple engaging pieces, one from Maria Bargh and Lydia Wevers on why land is never just land, and another from Emily Beausoleil on transforming unjust ‘structures of feeling’. We also have four research briefs from Lara Greaves, Nadine Kreitmeyr, Francesca Dodd, and Trang Thu Autumn Nguyen.

We finish with two excellent book reviews, from Rae Nicholls on the authorised biography of Annette King from John Harvey & Brent Edwards, and from Margaret Hayward on “Marilyn Waring the political years”, the autobiographical account from Marilyn Waring.

I do hope you enjoy this year’s edition of the magazine, and I wish to express my thanks to Jean Drage and especially Sylvia Nissen, co-editors of WTP in 2018, for their wonderful help and guidance.

Sarah Hendrica Bickerton

Editor, Women Talking Politics 2019