The Victoria Schuck Award is presented annually by the American Political Science Association (APSA) to honor the best book published on women and politics.
Citation from the Award Committee:
Soledad Artiz Prillaman’s book, The Patriarchal Political Order: The Making and Unraveling of the Gendered Participation Gap in India, addresses a key puzzle in the literature on gender and politics, political behavior, and South Asian politics: why is it that Indian women turn out to vote but are otherwise unlikely to participate in politics? Prillaman carefully theorizes how household decision-making, situated in a larger patriarchal political order, elevates the voices of men while suppressing women’s participation. She draws on a wealth of original survey research and semi-structured interviews, analyzing data with descriptive and causal inference methodologies. The book documents the patriarchal nature of politics and the household in Madhya Pradesh, noting that men have more powerful networks and more ties outside the household. However, Prillaman finds that self-help groups can shift behavior, enabling women to contest patriarchal norms and demand political representation through autonomy from the household and joint collective action. This important and well-written work offers important insights into the dynamics of gender and political participation in patriarchal societies, making a significant contribution across subfields and academic disciplines.
Soledad Artiz Prillaman is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Stanford University and the Faculty Director of the Inclusive Democracy and Development Lab. She received a PhD in Government from Harvard University in 2017 and a BA in Political Science and Economics from Texas A&M University. Her research lies at the intersections of comparative political economy, development, and gender, with a focus on South Asia. She investigates the political consequences of development, the political behavior and representation of minorities, specifically women, inequalities in political engagement, and the translation of voter demands.
APSA thanks the committee members for their service: Dr. Diana Z. O’Brien (Chair) of Washington University in St. Louis, Dr. Erin Cassese of the University of Delaware, and Dr. Cheryl O’Brien of San Diego State University.