Unpacking the politics of equality, diversity and inclusion: The case of Israeli Jewish and Palestinian women in municipal councils

Abstract

This research aims to unpack the politics of gender equality and inclusion in municipal councils, focusing on the patterns of women’s political practices; the institutional impact of the national and local cultures on the organizational cultures. It is based on action-research and mixed-method format. Eight municipal councils in small and medium size Jewish, Arab and Jewish-Arab towns in the Northern district participate in the study. Initial findings suggest that women's meaningful involvement in the municipal strategic decision-making is partial. There is a significant gap between the declared strive for gender equality and inclusion and women's actual influence in decision-making. This gap looms particularly large in the Arab towns. The mechanisms of exclusion and potential avenues of counteracting them are discussed.