Mala Htun
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Mala Htun is an
America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
n
political scientist Political science is the science, scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of politics, political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated c ...
, currently a professor of political science at the
University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...
. Htun studies
comparative politics Comparative politics is a field in political science characterized either by the use of the ''comparative method'' or other empirical methods to explore politics both within and between countries. Substantively, this can include questions relatin ...
, particularly women's rights and the politics of race and ethnicity with a focus on
Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
.


Education and early career

Htun studied
International Relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such as ...
at
Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
, graduating with an AB in 1991. She then studied political science at
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
, obtaining an AM in 1996 and a PhD in 2000. Htun's PhD dissertation, ''Private Lives, Public Policies: Divorce, Abortion, and Family Equality in Latin America'', won the Best Dissertation Prize from the Women and Politics section of the
American Political Science Association The American Political Science Association (APSA) is a professional association of political science students and scholars in the United States. Founded in 1903 in the Tilton Memorial Library (now Tilton Hall) of Tulane University in New Orleans, ...
. From 2000 until 2011, Htun was a professor of political science at the
New School for Social Research The New School for Social Research (NSSR) is a graduate-level educational institution that is one of the divisions of The New School in New York City, United States. The university was founded in 1919 as a home for progressive era thinkers. NSSR ...
and
Eugene Lang College Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts, commonly referred to as Lang, is the seminar-style, undergraduate, liberal arts college of The New School. It is located on-campus in Greenwich Village in New York City on West 11th Street off 6th Avenue. ...
. During this time she was also a 2002-2003 Fellow of the
Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University—also known as the Harvard Radcliffe Institute—is a part of Harvard University that fosters interdisciplinary research across the humanities, sciences, social sciences, arts, a ...
at
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
, a 2004 Fellow at the Kellogg Institute for International Studies at the
University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...
, and a
Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, mi ...
-Hitachi International Affairs Fellow in 2007. In 2011, Htun joined the faculty in the department of political science at the University of New Mexico.


Career

In addition to a number of publications in journals such as ''
The American Political Science Review The ''American Political Science Review'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering all areas of political science. It is an official journal of the American Political Science Association and is published on their behalf by Cambridge ...
'' and the ''
Latin American Research Review The ''Latin American Research Review'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering research on Latin America and the Caribbean. It was established in 1965 by the Latin American Studies Association (LASA) and is published by LASA's publis ...
'', Htun has also written three books: ''Sex and the State: Abortion, Divorce, and the Family under Latin American Dictatorships and Democracies'' (2003), ''Inclusion without Representation: Gender Quotas and Ethnic Reservations in Latin America'' (2016), and ''The Logics of Gender Justice: State Action on Women's Rights Around the World'' (2018). In a review of ''Sex and the State'', Patricia Hipsher wrote that, by seeking "to answer the question of how and why states make particular policy decisions on gender-related issues", Htun wrote one of the first comparative studies of gender-related public policy reform in Latin America. According to Courtney Jung in a review of Htun's second book, ''Inclusion without Representation'' is a study of institutions that "are designed to ensure that members of historically excluded groups are elected to political office" inspired by the work of
Arend Lijphart Arend d'Angremond Lijphart (born 17 August 1936) is a Dutch-American political scientist specializing in comparative politics, elections and voting systems, democratic institutions, and ethnicity and politics. He is Research Professor Emeritus ...
and
Merwin Crawford Young Merwin Crawford Young (November 7, 1931 – January 22, 2020) was an American political scientist and professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Education He received his B.A. from the University of Michigan and his PhD from Harvard in ...
. In 2015, Htun was named an Andrew Carnegie Fellow, for her work to "explore the ways that laws and public policies shape women's economic agency, and how economic empowerment affects gender relations and social norms". Htun's 2018 book, ''The Logics of Gender Justice: State Action on Women's Rights Around the World'', was coauthored with
S. Laurel Weldon S. Laurel Weldon is a Canadian and American political scientist, currently a Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Simon Fraser University. She is a democratic and feminist theorist, known for studies of the cross-national evolution ...
. Htun and Weldon studied the evolution of women's rights issues such as family law, abortion, paid parental leave, and contraception from 1975 to 2005. For ''The Logics of Gender Justice'', Htun and Weldon received the Human Rights Best Book Award for 2019 from the
International Studies Association The International Studies Association (ISA) is a US-based professional association for scholars and practitioners in the field of international studies. Founded in 1959, ISA has been headquartered at the University of Connecticut in Storrs since ...
. Htun has worked in several capacities on the advancement of traditionally underrepresented groups in political science. She has been a Special Advisor for Inclusion and Climate in the School of Engineering at the University of New Mexico, and the Deputy Director for Advance, a program that aims to promote the success and inclusion of faculty who are white women or minorities. Htun has also coordinated inclusion efforts in the American Political Science Association. Htun's work has been mentioned in media such as ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', and the ''
Stanford Social Innovation Review ''Stanford Social Innovation Review'' (''SSIR'') is a magazine and website that covers cross-sector solutions to global problems. ''SSIR'' is written by and for social change leaders from around the world and from all sectors of society—nonprofi ...
''.


Selected works

*''Sex and the State: Abortion, Divorce, and the Family under Latin American Dictatorships and Democracies'' (2003) *''Inclusion without Representation: Gender Quotas and Ethnic Reservations in Latin America'' (2016) *''The Logics of Gender Justice: State Action on Women’s Rights Around the World'' (2018)


Selected awards

*Best dissertation on women and politics, American Political Science Association (2000) *Andrew Carnegie Fellowship (2015)


References


External links


Papers of Mala Htun, 1956-2003 (inclusive), 1991-2000 (bulk): A Finding Aid.Schlesinger Library
Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University. {{DEFAULTSORT:Htun, Mala Living people Date of birth missing (living people) American women political scientists American political scientists 21st-century American women writers Stanford University alumni Harvard University alumni University of New Mexico faculty The New School faculty Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts faculty Year of birth missing (living people) American women academics