Women Who Caucus:
Feminist Political Scientists

Political scientists study formal political systems but also the other institutions, organisations, movements and ideas which exercise power in society – sometimes in unacknowledged ways. So it is not surprising that feminists with their catch cry of ‘the personal is political’ should have been attracted to the discipline.

This exhibition will take you into the personal and professional lives of a handful of feminist political scientists in Australia who have sought to change the way society thinks about women in the political sphere – as voters, as political actors and in their everyday lives. It tells of working to change the way political studies are understood and to make women visible in the political system. It tells of teaching and lobbying, of researching and celebrating research about women and politics, of banding together to support each other and of writing – writing books, articles and reports, and opinion pieces for the press which have reached out to government and society.

One of these women, the late Dr Thelma Hunter, made this exhibition possible through her generous bequest. Now read on.