ABSTRACT
This chapter starts by unravelling the similarities and differences between substantive and symbolic representation. Theories of substantive representation contribute to our understanding of symbolic representation by showing the importance of paying attention to the diversity of makers and to critical makers' in particular. Civil society and feminist actors from the women's movement, institutions, and academia seem to have a crucial role in promoting alternative interpretations of gender equality that challenge structural inequalities and suggest the transformation of existing privileges. Different voices in political debates construct different meanings of gender. It can be constructed in political debates as a symbol of equal representation in numbers, as a symbol of the transformation of unequal roles of women and men, or as a symbol of feminist alliances. Discursive symbolic representation thus plays an important role in that it shapes the normative context where substantive representation can happen.
