The American Political Science Review, the premier academic journal for political science (an article published in APSR will often secure tenure for a young academic) is very pleased with itself for announcing its new editorial staff, which for the first time is all women:
A few people have raised eyebrows not so much about whether the female skew is an overwrought expression of identity politics or “diversity,” but rather for the fact that while the APSR brags that it has “substantive and methodological breath and expertise,” none of the stable of new editors come from the subfield of political theory or political philosophy, which tends to get short shrift in the APSR in the best of times. It is a longer story, and probably for a website other than Power Line, about how political philosophy is under suspicion in many political science departments, and the absence of a political theorist in the new APSR editorial staff is yet one more sign of the marginalization of political theory (which is no hotbed of conservatism, by the way).
But it is worth reading through the descriptions of the new editors, where I think one other theme emerges clearly:
Sharon Wright Austin is Professor of Political Science at the University of Florida. Her most recent book is The Caribbeanization of Black Politics: Race, Group Consciousness, and Political Participation in America(SUNY 2018), and she is currently editing a book entitled Political Black Girl Magic: The Elections and Governance of Black Female Mayors.
Michelle L. Dion, Associate Professor of Political Science at McMaster University (Canada), studies sexuality, attitudes, and social policy, as well as diversity, methodology, and the profession. She is the author of a book and numerous articles and has been recognized with multiple awards for her research and for her work on the advancement of women.
Clarissa Rile Hayward, Professor of Political Science at Washington University, studies power, democracy, identity, and American urban politics. Her most recent book is the award-winning How Americans Make Race (Cambridge University Press 2013), and she has served as co-editor of Political Research Quarterly.
Kelly M. Kadera is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Iowa. Her award-winning research examines international conflict, gendered violence, and gender in academia. She won the Northcutt Award (2016) for her work mentoring junior female scholars of international relations. She is a former co-editor and associate editor of International Studies Review.
Celeste Montoya is Associate Professor of Political Science and Women & Gender Studies at the University of Colorado, Boulder. She is author of From Global to Grassroots: The European Union, Transnational Advocacy, and Combating Violence against Women (Oxford University Press 2013) and coeditor of Gendered Mobilizations and Intersectional Challenges (forthcoming ECPR Press).
Julie Novkov is Professor of Political Science and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University at Albany, SUNY. She is the author and co-editor of several books and journal articles, including the award-winning Racial Union, and served as president of the Western Political Science Association in 2016-17.
Valeria Sinclair-Chapman is Associate Professor of Political Science at Purdue University. She is the co-author of the award-winning Countervailing Forces in African-American Political Activism, 1973-1994 (Cambridge University Press 2006) as well as many journal articles and book chapters, and she is co-lead editor of Politics, Groups, and Identities.
Dara Strolovitch, Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies and Politics at Princeton University, is the author of the award-winning Affirmative Advocacy: Race, Class, and Gender in Interest Group Politics (Chicago 2007), as well as many journal articles and book chapters, and she was a founding Associate Editor of the Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics.
Aili Mari Tripp, Wangari Maathai Professor of Political Science and Gender and Women’s Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, studies African politics, including North Africa, and gender and politics. The author of numerous award-winning books, she has been president of the African Studies Association, vice president of APSA, and co-editor of Politics & Gender.
Denise M. Walsh, Associate Professor of Politics and Women, Gender and Sexuality at the University of Virginia, does cross-regional, comparative research on democratic transitions, women’s rights, and multiculturalism. She is the author of Women’s Rights in Democratizing States(Cambridge University Press, 2011) and co-editor of five multi-article journal symposiums.
S. Laurel Weldon is Professor of Political Science at Simon Fraser University (Canada). Her global, comparative research on social movements, institutions, and public policy has won many prizes, including, most recently, the 2019 Best Book Award from the Human Rights section of ISA. She is founding co-editor (and served as lead editor) of Politics, Groups, and Identities.
Elisabeth Wood is Crosby Professor of the Human Environment and Professor of Political Science at Yale University and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Her research focuses on comparative politics, political violence, and qualitative methods. She has served on editorial boards for World Politics, Politics and Society, and the American Political Science Review.
Additional background on this story from Quartz last year.
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