Futuristic buildings of the German Bundestag in Berlin hosted the conference „Entering the Parliamentary Stage: Women in Parliament and Politics in International Comparison“ on 6-8 March 2019. The three days brought together a community of scholars, students and (former) politicians from Germany, Czech Republic, USA, Finland, Britain, Russia, Holland, France, Poland and Switzerland.
Their discussions followed the troubled routes from first women’s suffrage campaigners to actual first seats for women in parliaments. Male-dominated parliaments were seen as complex environments with cultures consistently opposing the newcomers. Strong continuities proved to exist in ever changing parliamentary bodies, the dilemas of gender represetation prevail in contemporary institutions as well: Are women still supposed to represent other women?
Our thanks go to Andreas Schulz, Gisela Mettele, Tobias Kaiser, Verena Mink and Adéla Gjuričová, the organizing team from KGParl in Berlin, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Prague Institute of Contemporary History and the Masaryk Institute of Czech Academy of Science, and to Deutsch-Tschechischer Zukunftsfonds.
