Abstract

This chapter examines the gendered nature of democratic politics in Bangladesh, specifically the discourses and structures that affect women’s participation both as contenders for office and as voters. Although two women have dominated national politics in Bangladesh for over two decades and despite reserved seats for women in parliament, women politicians remain a minority and have not been active proponents of women’s rights. Women activists across classes and within and outside formal women’s groups have been active in keeping women’s, workers’, and human rights at the forefront of public and political discourse. In the long run, these efforts may well lead to ever-more insistent demands on the part of better-informed voters for changes targeting women’s political, social, and economic needs.