Mala Htun
{{Short description|American political scientist (1969–2025)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Mala Htun
| image =
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| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1969|08|23}}
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| death_date = {{Death date and age|2025|01|24|1969|08|23}}
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| nationality = American
| fields = {{ubl|Political science|Latin American studies|Women's and gender studies}}
| workplaces = {{ubl|New School for Social Research|Eugene Lang College|University of New Mexico}}
| alma_mater = {{ubl|Stanford University|Harvard University}}
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| doctoral_students =
| known_for =
| awards = {{ubl|Andrew Carnegie Fellow|Best Dissertation on women and politics, APSA}}
}}
Mala Nani Htun (August 23, 1969 – January 24, 2025) was an American political scientist. She was a professor of political science at the University of New Mexico. Htun studied comparative politics, particularly women's rights and the politics of race and ethnicity with a focus on Latin America.
Background
Htun was born on August 23, 1969.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/08/fashion/weddings/mala-htun-and-douglas-turner.html |author= |title=Mala Htun and Douglas Turner |work=New York Times |location=New York |date=8 January 2006 |access-date=23 January 2019}} She studied International Relations at Stanford University, graduating with an AB in 1991.{{cite web |url=https://laii.unm.edu/people/faculty/mala-htun.html |title=Mala Htun |publisher=University of New Mexico Department of Political Science |year=2019 |access-date=24 January 2020}} She then studied political science at Harvard University, obtaining an AM in 1996 and a PhD in 2000.{{cite web |url=https://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/people/mala-htun |title=Fellow Mala Htun |access-date=24 January 2020 |publisher=Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study|date=16 March 2012 }} 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.apsanet.org/MEMBERSHIP/Organized-Sections/Organized-Section-Awards/Section-16 |year=2019 |access-date=24 January 2020 |publisher=American Political Science Association |title=Women and Politics Award Recipients}}
Htun died from cancer on January 24, 2025, at the age of 55.{{cite web|url=https://news.unm.edu/news/unm-political-science-distinguished-professor-mala-htun-dies|title=UNM Political Science Distinguished Professor Mala Htun dies|work=University of New Mexico|date=27 January 2025|access-date=28 January 2025}}
Career
From 2000 until 2011, Htun was a professor of political science at the New School for Social Research and Eugene Lang College. During this time she was also a 2002-2003 Fellow of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, a 2004 Fellow at the Kellogg Institute for International Studies at the University of Notre Dame,{{cite web |url=https://kellogg.nd.edu/people/mala-htun |title=Mala Htun Former Visiting Fellow |publisher=University of Notre Dame |access-date=24 January 2020 |year=2004}} and a Council on Foreign Relations-Hitachi International Affairs Fellow in 2007. In 2011, Htun joined the faculty in the department of political science at the University of New Mexico.
In addition to a number of publications in journals such as The American Political Science Review{{cite journal |title=The civic origins of progressive policy change: Combating violence against women in global perspective, 1975–2005 |last1=Htun |first1=Mala |last2=Weldon |first2=S. Laurel |date=August 2012 |journal=American Political Science Review |volume=106 |issue=3 |pages=548–569|doi=10.1017/S0003055412000226 |s2cid=15986250 }} and the Latin American Research Review,{{cite journal |title=From "racial democracy" to affirmative action: changing state policy on race in Brazil |last=Htun |first=Mala |date=1 January 2004 |pages=60–89}}{{cite web |url=https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=1XQAdAkAAAAJ&hl=en |title=Mala Htun Publications |work=Google Scholar |access-date=24 January 2020}} 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).{{cite web |url=https://www.amacad.org/person/mala-htun |title=Mala Htun |date=December 2019 |publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences |access-date=24 January 2020}}
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.{{cite journal |title=Review of Sex and the State: Abortion, Divorce, and the Family Under Latin American Dictatorships and Democracies. By Mala Htun |last=Hipsher |first=Patricia |journal=Perspectives on Politics |date=September 2004 |volume=2 |number=3 |pages=613–614|doi=10.1017/S1537592704660373 |s2cid=145535183 }} 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 and Merwin Crawford Young.{{cite journal |last=Jung |first=Courtney |journal=Perspectives on Politics |volume=15 |number=2 |title=Review of Inclusion without Representation in Latin America: Gender Quotas and Ethnic Reservations. By Mala Htun |date=8 June 2017 |pages=588–589 |doi=10.1017/S1537592717000640|s2cid=148804243 }}
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".{{cite news |url=https://news.unm.edu/news/unm-s-mala-htun-among-recipients-of-new-andrew-carnegie-fellowship |title=UNM's Mala Htun receives new Andrew Carnegie Fellowship |work=University of New Mexico Newsroom |publisher=University of New Mexico |date=22 April 2015 |access-date=24 January 2020}}
Htun's 2018 book, The Logics of Gender Justice: State Action on Women's Rights Around the World, was coauthored with S. Laurel Weldon. 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.{{cite web |url=https://www.sfu.ca/fass/news/2019/07/s-laurel-weldon-wins-human-rights-book-award/ |date=2019-07-26 | website=Simon Fraser University |title=S. Laurel Weldon wins Human Rights Book award for The Logics of Gender Justice |access-date=25 December 2019}} For The Logics of Gender Justice, Htun and Weldon received the Human Rights Best Book Award for 2019 from the International Studies Association.{{cite web |url=https://www.isanet.org/Programs/Awards/HRBestBook/PastRecipients |year=2019 | website=International Studies Association |title=Human Rights Best Book Award Past Winners |access-date=25 December 2019}}
Htun worked in several capacities on the advancement of traditionally underrepresented groups in political science. She was 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.{{cite web |url=https://advance.unm.edu/about-us/ |title=About Us |publisher=Advance at the University of New Mexico |year=2019 |access-date=24 January 2020}} Htun also coordinated inclusion efforts in the American Political Science Association.{{cite web |url=https://connect.apsanet.org/hackathon/ |title=Diversity & Inclusion Hackathon |year=2018 |access-date=24 January 2020 |publisher=American Political Science Association}}
Htun's work has been mentioned in media such as The New York Times,{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/10/opinion/how-argentina-has-made-halting-progress-on-abortion-rights.html |title=How Argentina Has Made Halting Progress on Abortion Rights |work=The New York Times |last=Corrales |first=Javier |date=10 August 2018 |access-date=24 January 2020}} The Washington Post,{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/08/19/theres-gender-gap-political-science-our-series-examines-problem-looks-some-solutions/ |title=There's a gender gap in political science. Our series examines the problem — and looks at some solutions. |first=Kim |last=Yi Dionne |date=19 August 2019 |access-date=24 January 2020}} and the Stanford Social Innovation Review.{{cite news |url=https://ssir.org/articles/entry/philanthropy_for_the_womens_movement_not_just_empowerment |work=Stanford Social Innovation Review |title=Philanthropy for the Women's Movement, Not Just 'Empowerment' |date=4 November 2019 |first=Françoise |last=Girard |access-date=24 January 2020}}
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
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://hollisarchives.lib.harvard.edu/repositories/8/resources/9374 Papers of Mala Htun, 1956-2003 (inclusive), 1991-2000 (bulk): A Finding Aid.] [https://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/schlesinger-library Schlesinger Library], Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.
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Category:American women political scientists
Category:American political scientists
Category:21st-century American women writers
Category:Stanford University alumni
Category:Harvard University alumni
Category:University of New Mexico faculty
Category:The New School faculty
Category:Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts faculty
Category:Year of birth missing