Philippa Marian Sawer (born 20 August 1946) is an Australian political scientist. She is a

professor emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies an ...

(ANU).

Early life

Sawer was born in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

, New Zealand, the daughter of Ralph and Marjorie Goodwin. She moved to Australia to attend Ascham School in Sydney, and subsequently attended the

(ANU) in Canberra. She graduated B.A.(Hons) in 1968,

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in 1970 and

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in 1975. Her doctoral thesis was titled "The question of the Asiatic mode of production: towards a new Marxist historiography".

Career

Early years

After completing her doctorate Sawer held a series of post-doctoral fellowships. She experienced difficulties with workplace gender discrimination and in 1979, after completing a survey on the status of women in Australian political science departments, she and

Carole Pateman Carole Pateman (born 11 December 1940) is a feminist and political theorist. She is known as a critic of liberal democracy and has been a member of the British Academy since 2007. Biography Pateman was born in Maresfield, Sussex, England. Ed ...

co-founded the women's caucus of the

Australasian Political Studies Association The Australian Political Studies Association (APSA) is a professional association for teachers and researchers of political science in Australia or New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific ...

(APSA). She was elected president of APSA in 1985.

Public service

In 1983, Sawer was employed as an equal opportunity consultant at ANU, authoring a report into women and employment at the university. In 1985 she joined the public service as director of equal employment opportunity at the Department of Foreign Affairs. She later joined the Office of the Status of Women within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

Return to academia

In 1990, Sawer joined the

University of Canberra The University of Canberra (UC) is a public research university with its main campus located in Bruce, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The campus is within walking distance of Westfield Belconnen, and from Canberra's Civic Centre. U ...

, where in 1993 she was appointed as an associate professor in politics. She later returned to her alma mater ANU, initially in a visiting capacity and then as head of the university's political science program. She was promoted to full professorial rank in 2003. From 2010 she has been an emeritus professor. Sawer was elected to the executive of the

International Political Science Association The International Political Science Association (IPSA), founded under the auspices of UNESCO in 1949, is an international scholarly association. IPSA is devoted to the advancement of political science in all parts of the world. During its histor ...

(IPSA) in 2006 and served as vice-president from 2009 to 2012. She was also co-editor of the organisation's journal ''International Political Science Review''.

Honours and recognition

In the

1994 Australia Day Honours The 1994 Australia Day Honours are appointments to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by Australian citizens. The list was announced on 26 January 1994 by the Governor General of Australia, Bill Hayden. The Australia Da ...

Sawer was appointed Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for "service to women and political science". In 1996 she was appointed Fellow of the

Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia The Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (ASSA) is an independent, non-governmental organisation devoted to the advancement of knowledge and research in the social sciences. It has its origins in the Social Science Research Council of Austr ...

(FASSA).

Personal life

Sawer has been married to British-born political scientist

James Jupp James Jupp AM (born 1932) was a British-Australian political scientist and author. He was Director of the Centre for Immigration and Multicultural Studies in the Research School of Social Sciences at the Australian National University and an A ...

since 1978, with whom she has one daughter. She was previously married to Michael Sawer from 1967 to 1977, with whom she had two daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sawer, Marian 1946 births Living people New Zealand emigrants to Australia Australian women academics Australian political scientists Academic staff of the University of Canberra Australian National University alumni Academic staff of the Australian National University People educated at Ascham School Fellows of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia Officers of the Order of Australia Women political scientists