CURRICULUM VITAE KAREN BECKWITH Flora Stone Mather ...

CURRICULUM VITAE
KAREN BECKWITH
Flora Stone Mather Professor
Department of Political Science Phone: (216) 368-4129
Case Western Reserve University Fax: (216) 368-4681
223 Mather House Email: karen.beckwith@case.edu
11201 Euclid Avenue http://politicalscience.case.edu/faculty/beckwith/
Cleveland, Ohio U. S. A. 44106-7109
EDUCATION:
Ph.D. Political Science, Syracuse University, May, 1982. Examination Fields: U.S. Politics (with
honors), Comparative Politics.
Dissertation: Patterns of Mass Political Participation among American Women, 1952-1976.
M.A. Political Science, Syracuse University, 1977.
B.A. Political Science, Honors Program, University of Kentucky, 1972.
RESEARCH AND TEACHING INTERESTS
Mass Political Participation and Behavior
Political Parties and Elections (Western Europe and the United States)
Comparative Political Movements
Electoral Systems and Representation
Women and Politics (Western Europe and the United States)
PUBLICATIONS
Lead Founding Editor, Politics& Gender, Cambridge University Press, 2004-2007.
Editor, Gender and Politics Series, Oxford University Press, 1995-2007.
BOOKS
Political Women and American Democracy: Critical Perspectives on Women and Politics Research, eds.
Christina Wolbrecht, Karen Beckwith and Lisa Baldez. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 2008.
Women’s Movements Facing the Reconfigured State, eds. Lee Ann Banaszak, Karen Beckwith and Dieter
Rucht. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.
American Women and Political Participation: The Impacts of Work, Generation and Feminism
(Westport, Conn.: The Greenwood Press, 1986).

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ARTICLES IN REFEREED JOURNALS
“Interests, Issues and Preferences: Women’s Interests and Epiphenomena of Activism,” Politics &
Gender, forthcoming 7 (3), September 2011.
“Comparative Politics and the Logics of a Comparative Politics of Gender,” Perspectives on Politics, 8
(1), March 2010: 159-168.
“Sheer Numbers: Critical Representation Thresholds and Women's Political Representation,” with
Kimberly Cowell-Meyers, Perspectives on Politics, 5 (3), September 2007: 555-567.
"Mapping Strategic Engagements of Women's Movements," International Feminist Journal of Politics, 9
(3), September 2007: 312-339.
“Numbers and Newness: The Descriptive and Substantive Representation of Women,” Canadian Journal
of Political Science, 40 (1), March 2007: 27-49.
“The Comparative Politics of Women's Movements: Teaching Comparatively, Learning Democracy,”
Perspectives on Politics, 3 (3), September 2005: 583-596.
“A Common Language of Gender?,” Politics & Gender I (1), March 2005: 128-137.
“Women, Gender, and Nonviolence in Political Movements,” PS: Political Science and Politics, 35 (1),
March 2002: 71-82.
“Gender Frames and Collective Action: Configurations of Masculinity in the Pittston Coal Strike,”
Politics & Society, 29 (2), June 2001: 297-330.
“Women's Movements at Century's End: Excavation and Advance in Political Science.” Annual Review
of Political Science, 4 (2001): 371-90.
“Hinges in Collective Action: Strategic Innovation in the Pittston Coal Strike,” Mobilization, 5 (2),
October 2000: 179-199.
“Beyond Compare? Women’s Movements in Comparative Perspective,” European Journal of Political
Research, 37 (4), June 2000: 431-468.
“Collective Identities of Class and Gender: Working-Class Women in the Pittston Coal Strike,” Political
Psychology, 19 (1), 1998: 147-167.
“Lancashire Women Against Pit Closures: Women's Standing in a Men's Movement,” Signs, 21 (4)
Summer 1996: 1034-1068.
“Comparative Research and Electoral Systems: Lessons from France and Italy,” Women & Politics, XII
(2), 1992, pp. 1-33.
“Candidature femminili e sistemi elettorali [Female Candidates and Electoral Systems],” Rivista italiana
di scienza politica, XX (1), April 1990, pp. 73-103.
“Sneaking Women into Office: Alternative Access to Parliament in France and Italy,” Women & Politics,
9 (3), 1989, pp. 1-15.

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“Feminism and Leftist Politics in Italy: The Case of UDI-PCI Relations,” in West European Politics,
VIII (4), October 1985, and in Sylvia Bashevkin, ed., Women and Politics in Western Europe
(London: Frank Cass, 1985), pp. 19-37.
“The Cross-Cultural Study of Women and Politics: Methodological Problems,” Women and Politics, I
(2), Summer, 1980.
BOOK CHAPTERS
“Between Participation and Representation: Political Women and Democracy in the United States,” in
Christina Wolbrecht, Karen Beckwith, and Lisa Baldez, eds., Political Women and American
Democracy: Critical Perspectives on Women and Politics Research, Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2008.
“The Gendering Ways of States: Women’s Representation and State Transformations in France, Great
Britain and the United States,” in Lee Ann Banaszak, Karen Beckwith and Dieter Rucht, eds.
Women’s Movements Facing the Reconfigured State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
2003. Pp. 169-202.
“When Power Relocates: Interactive Changes in Women’s Movements and States” (with Lee Ann
Banaszak and Dieter Rucht), in Lee Ann Banaszak, Karen Beckwith and Dieter Rucht, eds.
Women’s Movements Facing the Reconfigured State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
2003. Pp. 1-29.
“Movement in Context: Women and Miners' Campaigns in Britain,” in Ricca Edmondson, ed., The
Political Context of Collective Action. London: Routledge Press, 1997, pp.15-32.
“Response to Feminism in the Italian Parliament: Divorce, Abortion, and Sexual Violence Legislation,”
in Mary Fainsod Katzenstein and Carol McClurg Mueller, eds., The Women's Movements of
Western Europe and the United States: Consciousness, Political Opportunity and Public Policy
(Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1987). Pp. 153-171.
“Women in Italian Parliamentary Politics, 1946-1979,” in Howard R. Penniman, ed., Italy at the Polls:
The National Elections of 1979 (Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute, 1981).
ADDITIONAL PUBLICATIONS
“Review of Lee Ann Banaszak, The Women’s Movement Inside and Outside the State,” Social Forces, 89
(3), March 2011: 1064-66.
“Review of Karen L. Baird et al., Beyond Reproduction: Women’s Health, Activism and Public Policy,
and Karen M. Kedrowski and Marilyn Stine Sarow, Cancer Activism: Gender, Media and Public
Policy,” Perspectives on Politics, 8 (2), June 2010: 675-676.
Interdisciplinarity: Its Role in a Discipline-Based Academy. 2009. Report of the APSA Task Force on
Interdisciplinarity. Washington, DC: American Political Science Association. Task force
members: John Aldrich, Chair (Duke); Lisa Anderson (Columbia); Karen Beckwith (CWRU);

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Mathew Moen (University of South Dakota); Kristin Monroe (UC-Irvine); Kenneth Prewitt
(Columbia); Robert Axelrod (Michigan) and Michael Brintnall (APSA), ex officio.
“Why Do Men Dominate Politics?” Symposium on Big, Unanswered Questions in Comparative Politics,
APSA-CP Newsletter, 19 (1), Winter 2008: 15-16.
“Review of Anna Bull, Hanna Diamond, and Rosalind Marsh, eds., Feminisms and Women’s Movements
in Contemporary Europe,” International Feminist Journal of Politics, 5 (2), 2003: 313-315.
“Review of Linda Connolly, The Irish Women’s Movement: From Revolution to Devolution. Palgrave
Press,” American Journal of Sociology, 108 (2), September 2002: 514-516.
“Review of Christine Kelly, Tangled Up in Red, White and Blue: New Social Movements in America,”
American Political Science Review, 96 (2), June 2002: 423-424.
“Review Essay: Margaret E. Keck and Kathryn Sikkink, Activists Beyond Borders: Advocacy Networks
in International Politics and Cathy J. Cohen, Kathleen B. Jones, and Joan C. Tronto, eds., Women
Transforming Politics: An Alternative Reader,” Signs, 26 (2), Winter 2001.
“Review of Lawrence LeDuc, Richard G. Niemi, and Pippa Norris, eds., Comparing Democracies:
Elections and Voting in Global Perspective; Warren E. Miller and J. Merrill Shanks, The New
American Voter; and Stephen White, Richard Rose, and Ian McAllister, How Russia Votes,”
Journal of Politics, 60 (3), August 1998, pp. 893-897.
“Review of Donatella della Porta, Social Movements, Political Violence, and the State,” Italian Politics
and Society, 47, Spring 1997.
“Review of Sasha Roseneil, Disarming Patriarchy: Feminism and Political Action at Greenham,”
Mobilization, II (1), March 1997.
“Review of Barbara J. Nelson and Najma Chowdhury, eds., Women and Politics Worldwide,” Journal of
Politics, 58 (1), February 1996.
“Review of David Kertzer, Sacrificed for Honor: Italian Infant Abandonment and the Politics of
Reproduction,” Italian Politics and Society, 44, Fall 1995.
“Women in Italian Politics: A Review of Donald Meyer, Sex and Power: The Rise of Women in
America, Russia, Sweden, and Italy (2nd ed.),” Italian Politics and Society, 35, Winter 1991-92,
pp. 20-22.
“Review of Cynthia Enloe, Bananas, Beaches, and Bases: Making Feminist Sense of International
Politics,” Journal of Politics, 53 (1), February 1991.
“Review of Herbert Kitschelt, The Logics of Party Formation and Sidney Tarrow, Struggle, Politics and
Reform,” West European Politics, 13 (4), October 1990.
“Review of April Carter, The Politics of Women's Rights,” Journal of Politics, 51 (3), August 1989.
“Review of Judith Adler Hellman, Journeys Among Women: Feminism in Five Italian Cities,” West
European Politics, 12 (1), January 1989.

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“Review of Howard R. Penniman, ed., Italy at the Polls, 1983: A Study of the National Elections,”
American Political Science Review, 82 (3) September 1988.
“Review of S. E. Eisenstadt et al., Centre Formation, Protest Movements, and Class Structure in Europe
and the United States,” West European Politics, 11 (3), July 1988.
“Review Essay: Lucia Chiavola Birnbaum, Liberazione della donna: Feminism in Italy and Yasmine
Ergas, Nelle maglie della politica: Femminismo, istituzioni, e politiche sociali nell' Italia degli
anni '70,” Women and Politics, VIII (3), Fall 1988.
“Review of Donald Sassoon, Contemporary Italy: Politics, Economy, and Society Since 1945,” West
European Politics, 11 (1), January, 1988.
“Review of Mario Manfredi and Ada Mangano, Alle origini del diritto femminile,” Conference Group on
Italian Politics Newsletter, #15, August 1984, pp. 27-32.
“Review of Patricia Caplan and Janet Bujra, eds., Women United, Women Divided,” Women and Politics,
I (3), Fall, 1980.
“Research Resources for the Study of Women and Politics in Italy,” European Studies Newsletter, VIII
(1), September, 1978.
GRANTS AND AWARDS
Gender and Executive Leadership, ECPR Research Session Grant, European Consortium for Political
Research, May 2011.
ADVANCES Grant, Carpe Diem: Women’s Executive Electoral Success in West Europe. Case Western
Reserve University, 2010-2011.
Summer Stipend, National Endowment for the Humanities, for project on “Mobilization after Loss?
Social Movements and the Effects of Losing.” Summer 2009. $6000.
Travel Grant, Political Studies Association, United Kingdom, to attend Political Studies Association
meetings, Manchester, UK, April 7-9. 2009, to present paper titled “The Effects of Losing: Social
Movement Campaigns and the 1992-93 Anti-Pit Closure Campaign in Britain.”
Presidential Initiative Grant for Research Working Group: “Toward a Comparative Politics of Gender:
Advancing the Discipline along Interdisciplinary Boundaries,” Case Western Reserve University,
March 2007. $31,780.
ADVANCES Distinguished Lectureship Grant to bring Professor Theda Skocpol to campus, Case
Western Reserve University, October 2007.
ADVANCES Distinguished Lectureship Grant to bring Professor Mary Fainsod Katzenstein to campus,
Case Western Reserve University, January 2007.
Grant, the Henry Luce III Fund for Distinguished Scholarship, The College of Wooster, Fall Semester
2004.

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Faculty Research Leave, The College of Wooster, for Spring Semester 2004, for project entitled Women,
Politics and Governance in West Europe.
Grant, the Henry Luce III Fund for Distinguished Scholarship, The College of Wooster, Fall Semester
2001, for project entitled “Women, Gender, and Nonviolence.”
Faculty Research Leave, The College of Wooster, for Spring Semester 2001.
Co-Principal Investigator, Council for European Studies Research Planning Grant, on “The State and
Women's Movements,” 1996-99.
Faculty Research Leave, The College of Wooster, for the 1997-98 academic year.
Grant, National Endowment for the Humanities, for participation in the Summer Seminar “Race,
Ethnicity, and Gender in U.S. Labor History,” Binghamton University, Binghamton, New York,
June-August 1996.
Grants, Henry Luce III Fund for Distinguished Scholarship, The College of Wooster, Fall, 1995; Fall
1993.
Principal Investigator, Research Planning Grant SES-9224413, National Science Foundation, January 15,
1993-June 30, 1994.
Simon Honorary Research Fellowship, The University of Manchester, Manchester, England, 1992-93.
Research Grant, American Political Science Association, 1992.
Grant, National Endowment for the Humanities, for participation in the Summer Seminar “Political
Histories of Collective Action,” Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, June-August 1992.
Faculty Research Leave, The College of Wooster, for the 1992-93 academic year.
Grant, Henry Luce III Fund for Distinguished Scholarship, The College of Wooster, Fall, 1987.
Faculty Research Leave, The College of Wooster, for the 1987-88 academic year, second semester.
Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research, Summer Stipend for Statistics Seminar,
Summer, 1985, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Various support funds, Dean's Development Fund and Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs,
College of Wooster, 1985-1997.
Travel Grant, Harvard University Center for International Affairs, June, 1983.
Oakland University Faculty Research Fellowship, for field research on Italian political parties and the
feminist movement, 1982.
Stipend, European University Institute Summer School for Comparative European Politics, June-July,
1982.
Faculty Development Fund Grant, Department of Political Science, Oakland University, Winter, 1982.

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Travel Grant and Honorarium, American Political Science Association and the National Endowment for
the Humanities, for participation in the Ethical Issues Seminar "The Status of a Citizen,"
Washington, D.C., May and August, 1980.
Travel Grant, Council for European Studies, Columbia University, Spring, 1979.
WORK IN PROGRESS
The Dynamics of Women’s Political Representation: Party Competition, Electoral Volatility and Seat
Turnover, with Miki Caul Kittilson, Arizona State University.
Women, Politics and Governance in West Europe, Palgrave Press (under contract).
Mobilization after Loss? Social Movements and the Effects of Losing, unpublished manuscript (project on
the effect of losing in social movement campaigns and likelihood of remobilization).
Some Day My Chance Will Come: Women Contesting for Executive Leadership in West Europe (project
on female party leaders and women’s access to prime ministerships).
SCHOLARLY PAPERS AND CONFERENCE PARTICIPATION
“Someday My Chance Will Come: Women Contesting for Executive Leadership in West Europe,” paper
presented at the American Political Science Association meetings, Washington, DC, September 1-5,
2010.
Participant, Theme Roundtable on “The Meaning and Measurement of Women’s Interests,” at the
Midwest Political Science Association meetings, Chicago, IL, April 25, 2010.
“Gendered Competitive Interaction and Women’s Executive Electoral Success,” paper presented on the
panel on The Best Women for the Job: Comparative Perspectives on Female Politicians’ Pathways to
Power, the American Political Science Association meetings, Toronto, Canada, September 3, 2009.
Discussant, panel on The State and Gender Equality: Institutions, Policies and Movements, American
Political Science Association meetings, Toronto, Canada, September 3, 2009.
“The Effects of Losing: Social Movement Campaigns and the 1992-93 Anti-Pit Closure Campaign in
Britain,” paper presented at the Political Studies Association meetings, Manchester, UK, April 7-9,
2009.
“Gender, Class and the Price of Intersectionality,” paper presented at the Short Course on
Intersectionality at the American Political Science Association meetings, Boston, August 27, 2008.
“Mobilization After Loss: Social Movements and the Effects of Losing,” paper presented on the panel
Organizing, Gender, Social Movements at the American Political Science Association meetings,
Boston, August 28-31, 2008.
Discussant, Panel on Electoral Institutions and Female Representation, American Political Science
Association meetings, Boston, August 28-31, 2008.

Karen Beckwith 8
Organizer and Chair, Theme Panel on “Toward a Comparative Politics of Gender: Advancing the
Discipline along Interdisciplinary Boundaries,” American Political Science Association meetings,
Chicago, Illinois, August 30-September 2, 2007.
Participant, Theme Roundtable on the APSA Task Force on Interdisciplinarity, American Political
Science Association meetings, Chicago, Illinois, August 30-September 2, 2007.
Organizer and Chair, Roundtable on “Interdisciplinary Teaching in Political Science: Best Practices?,”
Midwest Political Science Association meetings, Chicago, Illinois, April 12-15, 2007.
Panelist, Theme Roundtable on "Studying Gender and Politics Over Time: Questions and Strategies for
Future Research," Midwest Political Science Association meetings, Chicago, April 12-15, 2007.
Discussant, Panel on Political Women and American Democracy, Midwest Political Science Association,
Chicago, April 20-23, 2006.
Chair, Panel on How Electoral Institutions Affect Voter Evaluations of Women Candidates, American
Political Science Association meetings, Washington , D.C., September 1-4, 2005.
Discussant, Panel on Do Women Represent Women?: Rethinking the ‘Critical Mass’ Debate, American
Political Science Association meetings, Washington , D.C., September 1-4, 2005.
“Politics & Gender: The Role of Specialized Journals” (with Lisa Baldez), paper presented on the panel
Publishing Political Science: Success Rates of Women and Minorities Revisited, American Political
Science Association meetings, Washington, D.C., September 1-4, 2005.
Discussant, panel on Historical Approaches to Gender Inequality and Representation, American Political
Science Association meetings, Chicago, Illinois, September 1-4, 2004.
Discussant, panel on The Impact of Feminist Civil Society on Gender Politics Around the Globe,
American Political Science Association meetings, Chicago, Illinois, September 1-4, 2004.
"Autonomy and Involvement: Mapping Strategic Engagements of Women's Movements," paper
presented at the International Studies Association meetings, Montreal, Canada, March 17-20, 2004.
“Sheer Numbers,” with Kimberly Cowell-Meyers, paper presented at the American Political Science
Association meetings, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, August 28-31, 2003.
“Nonviolence and Its Consequences,” paper presented at the Midwest Political Science Association
meetings, Chicago, Illinois, April 3-6, 2003.
Organizer and chair, “Do Women’s Movements Have a Shared Tactical Repertoire?,” panel presented at
the Midwest Political Science Association meetings, Chicago, Illinois, April 3-6, 2003.
“The Substantive Representation of Women: Newness, Numbers, and Models of Representation,” paper
presented at the American Political Science Association meetings, Boston, Massachusetts, August 29-
September 1, 2002.
“Mobilization After Loss? Women’s Organizing and Political Learning,” revised paper presented on the
panel on Mobilization and Advocacy in Political Movements, European Consortium for Political
Research Meetings, the University of Kent at Canterbury, Britain, September 6-8, 2001.

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“Feminism, Participation, and Political Generations,” paper presented on the panel on Political
Generations, Roberta Sigel, Chair, for the American Political Science Association meetings, San
Francisco, California, August 30-September 2, 2001.
Organizer and chair, When Power Relocates: Women’s Movements Facing a Reconfigured State, panel
presented at the American Political Science Association meetings, San Francisco, California, August
30-September 2, 2001.
“The Gendering Ways of States: Women’s Representation and State Transformations in France, Great
Britain and the United States,” paper presented on the panel When Power Relocates: Women’s
Movements Facing a Reconfigured State, for the American Political Science Association meetings,
San Francisco, California, August 30-September 2, 2001.
“Gendered Discourse, Gendered Structure: Women’s Activism in the Pittston Coal Strike,” paper
presented on the roundtable on Race, Gender, and the Future of the Labor Movement, at the
American Political Science Association meetings, Washington, D.C., August 31-September 3, 2000.
“Mobilization After Loss? Women’s Organizing and Political Learning,” paper presented on the panel on
Thinking Theoretically about Women’s Movements, 2000 Midwest Political Science Association
Meetings, Chicago, Illinois, April 27-30.
Discussant, panel on The Global, Regional and Local Dynamics of Nonviolent Conflict since 1980, at the
American Political Science Association meetings, Atlanta, Georgia, 2-4 September 1999.
"Strikes and State Response: Structure and System in Collective Action," paper presented at the 1998
American Political Science Association meetings, Boston, Massachusetts, September 3-6.
Organizer and Co-Chair, Frontiers of Women and Politics Research, faculty seminar for advanced
graduate students, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, 2 September 1998.
"The Gendering Ways of States: Women’s Representation and State Transformations in Britain, France,
Italy and the United States," paper presented at the Women's Movements and States Research Group
Workshop, The Pennsylvania State University, April 30-May 3, 1998.
Chair, panel on New Institutions for Women: Moving Towards Democracy?, 1997 American Political
Science Association meetings, Washington, D.C., August 28-31.
Chair, roundtable on The Concept of Gender: Research Implications for Political Science, 1997
American Political Science Association meetings, Washington, D.C., August 28-31.
Organizer, Hyde Park Session on Crafting New Institutions: Women and Politics in the Next Century,
1997 American Political Science Association meetings, Washington, D.C., August 28-31.
“’The Curved Path of History’: Community, Culture, and Gender in a British Miners’ Struggle,” paper
presented on the panel on Gender, Culture and the Contemporary Labor Movement in Comparative
Perspective, at the 1995 North American Labor History Conference, Detroit, Michigan, October 19-
20.
"Women’s Movements and Women in Movements: Political Opportunity in Context," paper presented at
the 1995 American Political Science Association meetings, Chicago, Illinois, August 31-September 3.

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Discussant, panel on Gender in Comparative Perspective: Post-Industrial States, 1995 Midwest Political
Science Association meetings, Chicago, Illinois, April 6-8.
Organizer, Gender and Party Politics, panel organized for the Conference on Party Politics in the Year
2000, Manchester, England, January 13-15, 1995.
"The Greater the Number of Seats: District Magnitude and Women's Access to Office in Italy," paper
presented at the Conference on Party Politics in the Year 2000, Manchester, England, January 13-15,
1995.
Organizer, Comparative Method, Feminist Methodology: The Cross-National Study of Women and
Politics, panel organized for the 1994 American Political Science Association meetings. Cosponsored
by the APSA Comparative Politics Section and the Women and Politics Research Section.
Discussant, Race and Gender in British Politics, panel sponsored by the British Politics Group, 1994
American Political Science Association meetings, New York, New York.
"Women in a Men's Movement: Political Opportunity and Gender in Britain," paper presented at the
workshop on The Impact of Context on Collective Action, 1994 European Consortium for Political
Research meetings, Madrid, Spain, April 17-22.
Organizer, Panel on Political Opportunity in Comparative Perspective, 1994 Midwest Political Science
Association meetings, Chicago, Illinois.
"Strikes and Standing: Women and Miners' Strikes in Britain and the United States," paper presented at
the 1994 Midwest Political Science Association meetings, Chicago, Illinois.
Discussant, Panel on Cross-National Comparisons of Women's Activism, 1993 American Political Science
Association meetings, Washington, D.C.
Discussant, Panel on Teaching Women and Politics, 1993 American Political Science Association
meetings, Washington, D.C.
Participant, Department of Peace Studies Conference on Gender and Democracy, University of Bradford,
Bradford, Great Britain, 27 November 1992.
Chair and Organizer, Panel on Comparative Politics and Women and Politics Research, 1992 American
Political Science Association meetings, Chicago, Illinois. Co-sponsored by the APSA Comparative
Politics Section and the Women and Politics Research Section.
"Collective Action and Action Repertoires in the 1989-90 UMW-Pittston Strike," paper presented at the
NEH Summer Seminar on Political Histories of Collective Action, Cornell University, Ithaca, New
York, August 4, 1992.
"Women and Miners' Strikes: Assessing Post-Strike Transformation of Activist Women," paper
presented at the European Consortium for Political Research meetings, Workshop on Studying the
Effects of Social Movements, Limerick, Ireland, March 30-April 4, 1992.
Chair and Organizer, roundtable on Comparative Political Method and the Study of Women and Politics,
1991 American Political Science Association meetings, Washington, D.C. Co-sponsored by the
APSA Comparative Politics Section and the Women and Politics Research Section.

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Chair and Organizer, panel on Women and Politics in West Europe: Access to Elective Office, 1991
American Political Science Association meetings, Washington, D. C.
“Political Disaster, Political Triumph: The Election of Women to National Parliaments,” with R. Darcy,
paper presented at the 1991 American Political Science Association meetings, Washington, D.C.
Discussant, panel on Historical and Comparative Perspectives on Women's Movements, 1991 Midwest
Political Science Association meetings, Chicago, Illinois.
Chair and Discussant, panel on Women as Political Actors: A Comparative Perspective, 1990 American
Political Science Association meetings, San Francisco, California.
“Comparative Research and Electoral Systems: Lessons from France and Italy,” paper presented at the
1990 Conference for Europeanists, Washington, D. C.
Discussant, panel on Rightwing Extremism in Western Europe, 1990 Midwest Political Science
Association meetings, Chicago, Illinois.
Discussant, panel on Women, Elections and Representation in Cross-National Perspective, 1989
American Political Science Association meetings, Atlanta, Georgia.
“System Change and Women's Representation: The Case of France,” paper presented at the 1988
American Political Science Association meetings, Washington, D. C.
“Mothers and Politics: What Children Do To and For Women's Political Participation,” paper presented
at the 1987 Midwest Political Science Association meetings, Chicago, Illinois.
Participant, Roundtable on Do Electoral Systems Discriminate Against Women?, 1986 American Political
Science Association meetings, Washington, D.C.
Discussant, panel on Alternative Forms of Participation: Gender and Race Factors, 1986 Midwest
Political Science Association meetings, Chicago, Illinois.
“Structural Barriers to Women's Access to Office: The Cases of France, Italy and the United States,”
paper presented at the 1984 American Political Science Association meetings, Washington, D. C.
“Parties and Non-Party Associations: The Case of the Italian Feminist Movement and the Italian
Communist Party,” paper presented at the 1983 American Political Science Association meetings,
Chicago, Illinois.
“Representation in the Italian Parliament: Isomorphic Representation of Women and Policy
Responsiveness to Women's Issues,” paper presented at the Conference Group on Italian Politics
Conference on Institutional Performance in Italy, Bellagio, Italy, June 14-19, 1983.
“Italian Women and Politics in the Postwar Period,” prepared for the 1983 Annual Meetings of the
European Consortium for Political Research, Freiburg, Germany, March, 1983.
Chair, The Cycles of Non-Labor Protest in Italy in the 1970s, panel organized for the 1982 Conference for
Europeanists, Washington, D.C.

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Chair, Women, Women's Movements, and the Challenge to the State, panel organized for the 1981
Midwest Political Science Association meetings, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Discussant, panel on Political Participation Other Than Electoral Participation, 1980 Midwest Political
Science Association meetings, Chicago, Illinois.
Participant, APSA/NEH-sponsored Ethical Issues series seminar on The Status of a Citizen, Washington,
D.C., May 17-18 and August 27-28, 1980.
“Female PCI Deputies to the Italian Parliament: A Thirty-Year Retrospective,” paper presented at the
First Annual Meetings of the Conference for Europeanists, Washington, D.C., March, 1979.
Discussant, panel on Equal Employment Opportunity in Women's Policy Issues, 1979 American Political
Science Association meetings, Washington, D.C.
“The Cross-Cultural Study of Women and Politics: Methodological Problems,” paper presented at the
1978 Midwest Political Science Association meetings, Chicago, Illinois.
Discussant, panel on Quantitative Approaches to Women's Political Behavior, 1977 American Political
Science Association meetings, Washington, D.C.
“A Comparative Perspective on Women's Political Behavior in Italy,” paper presented at the 1977
Midwest Political Science Association meetings, Chicago, Illinois.
“Ideology and Class Consciousness in the Thought of Karl Marx,” paper presented at the 1977 Western
Political Science Association meetings, Phoenix, Arizona.
INVITED LECTURES
Invited Commentator, “Friendly Critics' Round Table: What might a feminist analysis bring to the study
of federalism? What might the study of federalism bring to feminist analysis?”, FINSA Workshop on
Gender and Federalism: New Ideas about Comparative Approaches, Washington, DC, September 5,
2010.
Presentation on Gender and Institutions, International Workshop on Rethinking the Dynamics of Political
Institutions: Integrating Gender and Neo-Institutionalist Perspectives (Louise Chappell, Fiona
Mackay, and Georgina Waylen, directors), University of Sydney, March 23-25, 2010.
Roundtable on Women and Politics, Sydney Ideas Public Lecture Series, sponsored by the US
Studies Centre, University of Sydney (Australia), March 22, 2010.
“Women, Gender, and Politics: Surveying the Post-Election Landscape,” Invited Lecture to the
William and Mary School, sponsored by the American Constitution Society and the Women’s
Law Society, Williamsburg, Virginia, November 17, 2008.
“’The Curved Path of History’: Women, Political Science and Women’s Studies in the 21 st
Century,” Invited Lecture to Celebrate the 20 th Anniversary of the Women’s Studies Program,
Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, September 26, 2008.

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“Are We De-Gendering Presidential Politics? Women, Participation, and Representation in US
Democracy,” Invited Lecture, Endowed Annual Lecture on Women and Politics, Department
of Political Science, State University of New York at Geneseo, April 9, 2008.
“State Reconfiguration and Unintended Consequences: The Two Ironies of State
Reconfiguration,” lecture presented at the City College New York, April 2, 2005.
“Mobilization After Loss? Women’s Organizing and Political Learning in British Mining Strikes,”
lecture given to the Research Group on Gender and Workplace Issues, Seminar Lunch Series, Fraser
Center for Labor Studies, Wayne State University, November 3, 2003.
“The Gender Gap and Women’s Descriptive and Substantive Representation in the United States,”
presented to the Fourteenth Annual Summer Seminar in U.S. Studies for Latin American Social
Scientists and Non-Academic Professionals,” the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, the University of
California at San Diego, La Jolla, California, July 18, 2002.
“Women, Gender and Nonviolence in Political Movements,” presented to the Program on Nonviolent
Sanctions and Cultural Survival, the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard
University, October 31, 2001.
“Overview: Strategic Nonviolent Action and ‘People Power’,” opening presentation (with Peter
Ackerman) of the Colloquium on Strategic Nonviolent Campaigns for Social Change, Fletcher
School of International Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts, October 1,
2001.
“Gender Frames and Collective Action,” presented to the Department of Political Science, Labor Studies
Program, and Women’s Studies Program at the Pennsylvania State University, April 30, 1998.
"Regendering Collective Action: Configurations of Masculinity in the Pittston Coal Strike," presented to
the Department of Politics, Oberlin College, March 6, 1998.
“Women and Strike Support: Political Discourse in Britain and the United States,” presented to the
Boston Area Feminist Theory Colloquium, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts,
December 7, 1995.
"When Class Struggle Learns From Race Struggle," College of Wooster Forum Lecture, September 29,
1994.
"Strikes and Struggle: Standing as Women in a Men's Movement," paper presented to the Program on
Nonviolent Sanctions, Harvard University, March 1994.
"Women and Strike Support: Mines, Communities and Political Discourse in the 1989-90 Pittston Coal
Strike," International Centre for Labour Studies Seminar Programme, The University of Manchester,
Manchester, England, December 3, 1992.
"Strikes and State Response: The United Mine Workers of America and the Strike Against Pittston
Coal," Department of Government Seminar Programme, The University of Manchester, Manchester,
England, November 18, 1992.

Karen Beckwith 14
"Feminist Political Methodology and Political Science," Manchester Political Theory Conference on
"Studying Politics," The University of Manchester, Manchester, England, November 6, 1992.
"Theorizing Motherhood in Women's Political Participation," Lecture to the Women's Studies Program,
Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma, February 20, 1992.
"Women and Political Movements: Location, Identity, and Opportunity in the 1989-90 Pittston Coal
Strike," Lecture to the Women's Studies Program, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma,
February 21, 1992.
"[De]Constructing Disciplines: Women's Studies and Political Science," Lecture to the Department of
Political Science, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma, February 21, 1992.
"Barriers to Women's Access to Office: The Role of Family and Children," Lecture to the Women's
Studies Program, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, March 4, 1988.
"Studying the Gender Gap: Approaches, Results, Interpretations," Lecture sponsored by the Women's
Studies Program and the College of Arts and Sciences of the University of Kentucky, Lexington,
Kentucky, November 19, 1987.
"Mothers and Politics: What Children Do To and For Women's Political Participation," Convocation to
the College of Wooster, February 11, 1986.
"The Contemporary Feminist Movement in the United States," lecture to the Union of Italian Women,
Bologna, Italy, July 5, 1982.
"Parties, Organizations, and Political Movements: The Italian Communist Party, the Union of Italian
Women, and the Feminist Movement in Italy," lecture to the 1982 Summer School on Comparative
European Politics, European University Institute, Florence, Italy, June 30, 1982.
"Socialism in Western Europe," Politika Lecture of the Department of Political Science, Ohio Wesleyan
University, Delaware, Ohio, February 22, 1982.
PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENTS
Acting Chair, Department of Political Science, Case Western Reserve University, 2010-2011.
Flora Stone Mather Professor, Case Western Reserve University, since 2006.
Professor, Department of Political Science, The College of Wooster, 1997-2006.
Visiting Scholar, Program on Nonviolent Sanctions and Cultural Survival, the Weatherhead Center for
International Affairs, Harvard University, 2001-02.
Visiting Professor, Department of Government, Cornell University, Summer 1999.
Visiting Scholar, Gund School of Law, Case Western Reserve University, 1997-98.
Simon Research Fellow and Visiting Professor, Department of Government and Centre for Labour
Studies, The University of Manchester, Manchester, Great Britain, 1992-93.

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Visiting Fellow, Women's Studies Program, Cornell University, January-May, 1988.
Visiting Scholar, The University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, July-December, 1987.
Visiting Scholar, The University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, Summer, 1985.
Visiting Scholar, The Johns Hopkins University School for Advanced International Studies, Bologna,
Italy, Summer, 1982.
Chair, Department of Political Science, The College of Wooster, 1990-92.
Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, The College of Wooster, 1990-1997.
Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, The College of Wooster, 1985-1990 .
Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, 1980-
1984.
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
Elected and Appointed Positions:
Member, APSA Presidential Task Force on Interdisciplinarity, 2006-2007. The Task Force’s
Report, Interdisciplinarity: Its Role in a Discipline-Based Academy, is coming to
completion and will be submitted to academic presses for publication (John Aldrich, Duke
University, Chair).
Member, International Committee, American Political Science Association, January 1, 2003 to
December 31, 2005.
Executive Council Member, British Politics Group, 1999-2001, 2001-2003.
Executive Council Member, Midwest Political Science Association, 1993-1996.
President, Organized Section on Women and Politics Research of the American Political Science
Association, 1997-98.
Section Chair, Women and Politics Research, for the 1997 American Political Science Association
meetings.
Executive Council Member, Organized Section on Women and Politics Research of the American
Political Science Association, 2002-2004, 1994-95.
Executive Committee, Conference Group on Italian Politics and Society, 1992-95.
Secretary/Treasurer, Organized Section on Women and Politics Research of the American Political
Science Association, 1990-94.
Secretary, Women's Caucus for Political Science, 1990-1991.

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Editorships and Editorial Boards:
Lead Founding Editor, Politics & Gender, 2004-2007.
Co-editor, Gender and Politics Series, Oxford University Press.
Editorial Board Member, PS: Political Science and Politics, 1997-2000.
Editorial Board Member, International Feminist Journal of Politics,1998-2004.
Editorial Board Member, Party Politics, 1993-2000.
Editorial Board Member, American Journal of Political Science, 1991-1994.
Associate Editor, Women and Politics: A Journal of Research and Policy Review, 1986-1989.
Editorial Consultant, International Encyclopedia of Political Science, 2010.
Prize Committees:
Member, James Christoph Best Paper Prize, British Politics Group, 2008.
Member, Midwest Women's Caucus's Award Committee for the Outstanding Professional
Achievement Award, Midwest Political Science Association, 2008.
Chair and Member, Sophonsiba Breckinridge Committee, Best Paper on Women and Politics,
Midwest Political Science Association, 2007.
Member, Donald Stokes Dissertation Prize Committee, British Politics Group, 2000.
Chair and Member, Gabriel A. Almond Dissertation Prize Committee, American Political Science
Association, 1999.
Jury Member, Best Graduate Student Paper Prize, Party Politics, 1998.
REVIEW ACTIVITY
Proposal Reviewer, Guggenheim Foundation (2006)
Proposal Reviewer, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (2011, 2004)
Proposal Reviewer, National Endowment for the Humanities (2003, 1999, 1998)
Proposal Reviewer, National Science Foundation (2011, 2009, 2008, 1998, 1994)
Proposal Reviewer, The Rockefeller Foundation (1996)

Karen Beckwith 17
Manuscript Reviewer for Journals:
American Journal of Political Science
American Journal of Sociology
American Political Science Review
American Politics Quarterly
American Review of Politics
American Sociological Review
British Journal of Political Science
Comparative Political Studies
Comparative Politics
International Feminist Journal of Politics
Journal of Politics
Journal of Women’s History
Legislative Studies Quarterly
Mobilization
Party Politics
Perspectives on Politics
Political Behavior
Political Research Quarterly
Political Studies
Politics & Gender
PS: Political Science and Politics
Signs
Social Science Quarterly
World Politics
Manuscript Reviewer for Presses:
Cambridge University Press
Oxford University Press
Polity Press
Routledge Press
Scott-Foresman Publishing
Stanford University Press
Temple University Press
University of Illinois Press
University of Michigan Press
University of Minnesota Press
University of South Carolina Press
West Publishing
Yale University Press
COURSES TAUGHT (since 2006, Case Western Reserve University):
USSO280 Democracy? (University SAGES Seminar)
POSC109 The American Political System
POSC343/443 Political Movements and Political Participation
POSC346/446 Women and Politics
POSC396 Senior Capstone Project in Political Science
COURSES TAUGHT (before 2006, College of Wooster, unless otherwise noted):
PSC110 Introduction to U.S. National Politics
GOV131 Introduction to Comparative Politics (Cornell University, Summer 1999)
PSC206 Political Parties and Elections
PSC207 Money and Politics
PSC209 Political Movements and Collective Action
PSC210 Women, Power and Politics
PSC247 Women’s Movements in Comparative Perspective
PSC247 British Politics and Government
PSC250 Quantitative Methods in Political Research
PSC401 Junior Independent Study Thesis Seminar
PSC451-452 Senior Independent Study Thesis Tutorial
Interdisciplinary Courses:
First-Year Seminar: “Democracy and Nonviolence” (2002, 2003)
First-Year Seminar: “Inventing Great Britain” (1999)

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First-Year Seminar: “Difference, Power, Discrimination: Perspectives on Race, Gender, Class and
Culture” (1990)
First-Year Seminar: “Communities in Conflict” (1989)
WMNS120 Introduction to Women’s Studies
ADMINISTRATIVE POSITIONS
Acting Chair, Department of Political Science, Case Western Reserve University, 2010-2011.
Executive Committee of the College of Arts and Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, 2008-2011
(elected position).
Committee on Appointments, College of Arts and Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, 2007-08,
2008-09, 2009-2010, 2011-2012.
Women’s Studies Executive Committee, Case Western Reserve University, 2006-2010.
Committee to Evaluate the Dean of Faculty, The College of Wooster, Chair, 2004-2005.
Member, Teaching Staff and Tenure Committee, The College of Wooster, 2002-2003 (elected position).
Vice President for Academic Affairs Search Committee, The College of Wooster, 2002-2003 (elected
position).
Student Evaluation Committee, The College of Wooster, 2002-2004.
Faculty Development Committee, The College of Wooster, 1999-2000.
Vice President for Academic Affairs Search Committee, The College of Wooster, 1996-97 (elected
position).
Research and Study Leaves Committee, The College of Wooster, Chair, Fall 2004; 1995-96; member,
1993-96, 2004.
Chair, Department of Political Science, The College of Wooster, 1990-92.
Financial Advisory Committee, The College of Wooster, 1988-91; 1994-97; 1999-2002 (elected
position).
Faculty Representative, Truman Scholarship Program, The College of Wooster, 1990-92, 1993-1997,
1999-2000.
Women's Studies Program Curriculum Committee, The College of Wooster, 1986-88.
Chair, Women's Studies Program, Oakland University, 1982-84.

Karen Beckwith 19
LANGUAGES
Italian: fluency, good; reading and writing, fair.
French: reading, fair.
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
American Political Science Association
Women and Politics Research Section (former President; former Program Chair; former
Executive Board member; former Treasurer)
Comparative Politics Section
Political Organizations and Parties Section
Race and Ethnicity Section
British Politics Group (former Executive Board member, multiple terms)
Conference Group on Italian Politics and Society (former Executive Council member)
Midwest Political Science Association (former Executive Council member)
Women’s Caucus for Political Science (former Recording Secretary)
DISSERTATIONS (External Reader)
What Has Happened to the Women’s Movement? Organizational Dynamics and Trajectories of Feminist
Organizations in Milan and Berlin, Elena del Giorgio, European University Institute (2010).
Women Leaders in Comparative Perspective, Farida Jalalzai, University of Buffalo (2004).
The Effects of Paid Employment on Women's Political Activity: An Analysis of Structural and Contextual
Workplace Factors, Rachelle Brooks, Rutgers University (2000).

Karen Beckwith 20
SELECTED SENIOR CAPSTONE SUPERVISION (Case Western Reserve University)
Alexandra Klyachkina, An Opening in the Pathway to the Top: A Comparative Analysis of the Route to
the Executive in Chile and Argentina (2011; Political Science, Double Major with International
Studies)
Kenley Jones, Missing Links, Solid Chains: Civic Participation and Government Responses to Human
Trafficking in El Salvador (2010; Political Science, Double Major with Spanish)
SELECTED SENIOR THESIS SUPERVISION (The College of Wooster)
Marco Garcia, Hay Diferencias? Do Latino Representatives Vote Differently from Other Members of
Congress? (2006)
Patricia L. Ross, Italy’s Procurato aborto and Ireland’s Ginmihilleahd: Comparative Abortion
Legislation in Western Europe (2006)
Christopher Billow, Presidential Success in Congress: The Myth of Second-Term Failure (2005)
Douglas Palmer, Hard-Fought and Low-Key US Senate Competition, 1998-2004 (2005)
Lisa Basalla, A Progress Report on the Impact of the Transnational Women’s Movement on National
Legislation Addressing Violence Against Women (2003)
Anna Jenks, The Citizen and the Democratic State: An Examination of the Effect That Decreasing Voter
Turnout Has on Public Policy (2000)
Benjamin Mizer, Once Upon a Lawsuit: Narrative Coherence and Legal Metaplots in the Microsoft
Antitrust Case (1999)
Jason Mycoff, An Alternative View of PAC Contributions and Senators’ Behavior (1997)
Leslie E. Potts, “La France Pour Tous Ou La France Surtout?” The Role of Nationalism in French
Political Parties (1996; Political Science, Double Major with French)
Erin Cross, The Construction of Identity: The Effects of Defining the Personal and Collective ‘Self’ in the
German and American Feminist Movements (1995; Political Science, Double Major with History)
Laurie E. Naranch, Elite Gender Differences: Female Legislators in the U.S. House of Representatives
(1992)
Melanie Green, Response of the People: The Sanctuary Movement (1989; Political Science, Double
Major with Spanish)
Jennifer Allison, Clean Hearts and Dirty Minds: A Feminist Looks at the Pornography Debate (1985;
Special Major in Women’s Studies; Winner, Turner History Prize)