Sisters in the Statehouse: Black Women and Legislative Decision Making

Abstract

Sisters in the Statehouse: Black Women and Legislative Decision Making Author: Nadia E. Brown Oxford University Press, 2014 Price: $49.95 ISBN: 978-0199352432 In Sisters in the Statehouse: Black Women and Legislative Decision Making, Nadia Brown explores the ways in which the intersectionality of race and gender colors experiences and thereby influences legislative choices and political behavior of Black women legislators. By developing and utilizing the concept of Representational Identity Theory, Brown illuminates the variations of experiences that exist among this group. She points out the nuances of differences, yet the shades of similarities, which this group shares as it relates to race and gender identity. The author also studies the policy preferences and legislative behavior that these experiences and identities reflect. The author reveals and explores such intersectionality by studying the Maryland state legislature as a case study. By hinging on the multiplicity of experiences, Brown offers new awareness about how gender and race identity permeates political representation and behavior among the Black women elected to office. Rejecting the narrow viewpoint of examining Black women through the spectrum of either "gender politics" or "racial politics," through its seven chapters, this book offers a powerful analysis of individual experiences of Black women and links it to the concepts of collective race and gender identities. In the first chapter the author introduces the readers to a quote by Maryland State Senator, Yvonne Scott. The quote points out the unique cultural, philosophical, and historical experiences of a Black woman, especially a Black woman legislator. She cites this quote to highlight the central theoretical framework discussed in this chapter, representational identity theory. She discusses the importance of the race and gender linkages between the diversity of experiences. The author posits that this discussion of theoretical considerations is important to understanding the political behavior of Black female legislators. Brown chose the state of Maryland as her case study for her research. She attributes this choice to the fact that the state is home to a large number of Black female legislators, the racial diversity of the state, the highly organized state legislature, and the unique combination of strong partisanship and legislative autonomy. The author devotes a large portion of this chapter introducing readers to the theory of representational identity, which incorporates the diversity of experiences of Black female legislators that is part of a collective identity. Here, the author departs from the overwhelming existing literature that examines Black women as one single unified political group. This chapter calls for the need to examine the ties between descriptive and substantive representation, one in which the dynamics of a Black female representatives' social/demographic ties to the constituents and a representatives' response to the interests of the constituents are juxtaposed to her legislative decision-making process as a member of racial and gender groups and as an individual. In doing so, Brown challenges theories that represent Black political identity and behavior as a homogenous group "sentiment. In the second chapter the author builds the linkages between the "formative" experiences of the Black female legislators and their political identity. To accomplish this, the author conducts detailed interviews in which the participants are asked to narrate about their life experiences: the past, present, and future. This is an extension of gathering data via the technique of storytelling. Brown frames her technique as a "feminist life history" interview. In this chapter, through the interview, the author studies the childhood and adulthood memories and current life experiences of the legislators. Through the responses given, the author attempts to glean how the Black female legislators' experiences have shaped their identities. …