Forum: Qualitative Social Research (May 2011)
Female Social Democrats on the Parliamentary Council
Abstract
Within the scope of the research project "Female Social Democrats on the Parliamentary Council and the German Bundestag 1948/49-1969," 38 biographies from all the women of the Parliamentary Council (1948/49) and the first five legislative periods (1949-1969) of the German Bundestag were conducted. This paper is about its members Frieda NADIG and Dr. Elisabeth SELBERT. First the methodology and the body of source material will be elucidated. Thereafter, the biographies of the two female members of Social Democrats in the parliament will be introduced up to the point when they were both members of the parliamentary council. The National Socialist period will be discussed within this context since it forms the backdrop for the later political work of both politicians. Thirdly, their common political fight for the inclusion of the sentence: "males and females have equal rights" into the constitution of the German Republic will be presented. Finally, through reviewing the continuing work in various political bodies, the significance of the political institutions that influenced and shaped their lives will be put into historical context. URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs1102156