Political Representation of Women in Northern Ireland

Increasing the political representation of women in Northern Ireland is part of fostering political pluralism. First, the political representation of women requires democratic participation and a justification of 'women' as a category. Second, specific factors of culture and the church unique to Ireland hinder women's participation in elected politics, and there are additional factors of class, violence, and nationalism that are peculiar to Northern Ireland. Third, gender quotas are successful elsewhere, but alone will not alter the powerful resistance to feminist change in Northern Ireland. Structures to encourage inclusionary politics must create spaces for political women to be transformative agents.     

Constance Maynard's Life-Writing Considered as Spiritual Autobiography

Viewing Constance Maynard's unwieldy life-writings within the tradition of spiritual autobiography reveals many of the irresolvable tensions with which she wrestled. Although she chose to see her public role as spearheading a crusade against modern rationalism, her inner life was as much concerned with the struggle to repudiate her parents’ ascetic Evangelical piety in favour of a more emotionally intense spirituality. Her conviction of conversion's centrality fostered a sense of mission which bolstered a sense of her own exceptionality as a ‘prophet’ chosen by God. This in turn nourished her belief that she was justified in exempting herself from the roles and relationships conventionally assigned to her gender, by pursuing same-sex desire and sexless motherhood.     

Volatile and Violent Relationships Among Women Sentenced for Homicide in Sweden Between 1986 and 2005

Data from Swedish court judgments of all 124 women convicted of homicide during 20 years was analyzed. The typical pattern was an abused woman who kills her intimate partner at home with a knife, often with alcohol involved. A subsample (n = 66) was analyzed qualitatively, with a focus on intimate partner relationships. The findings indicate that female homicides usually take place after a long progression of violence and reflect women’s subordinate gendered position. Situational triggers finally lead up to the killing event. Gender equality and the so-called woman-friendly welfare state in Sweden do not appear to reduce women’s volatility in violent relationships.     

Die Reform des nationalen Artenschutzrechts mit Blick auf das Urteil des EuGH v. 10.1.2006 in der Rs. C-98/03 (NuR 2006, 166)

Der Europ?ische Gerichtshof hat mit seinem Urteil vom 10.1.2006 die Bundesrepublik Deutschland wegen unzureichender Umsetzung von Art. 12 Abs. 1 lit. d sowie Art. 16 FFHRL durch § 43 Abs. 4 BNatSchG verurteilt. Damit wird nach der Caretta-Entscheidung des EuGH vom 30.1.2002 zum zweiten Mal innerhalb kurzer Zeit das System des deutschen Artenschutzrechts in Frage gestellt. Der Bundesgesetzgeber ist nun gefordert, das nationale Recht entsprechend anzupassen. Die nachfolgende Betrachtung nimmt zun?chst die Vorschrift des § 43 Abs. 4 BNatSchG in den Blick und pl?diert für deren Ausgestaltung als Abweichung im Sinn der Ausnahmeregelungen der FFH- und Vogelschutz-Richtlinie. Weiter beleuchtet sie den Vollzug des Artenschutzrechts im Rahmen der naturschutzrechtlichen Eingriffsregelung und spricht sich für eine Verankerung der Richtlinienvorgaben in § 19 BNatSchG aus.