Ina Brouwer (born 11 April 1950) is a Dutch retired politician of the Communist Party of the Netherlands (CPN) and later co-founder of the GroenLinks (GL) party and lawyer.

Education and early career

Brouwer studied Law at Groningen University. There, Brouwer came in touch with

social security Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...

law and socially engaged lawyers. Inspired by this side of the legal profession, Brouwer became a member of the Communist Party of the Netherlands. In 1981, she became a member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

for the CPN. In 1981, she succeeded

Marcus Bakker Marcus Bakker (20 June 1923 – 24 December 2009) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Communist Party of the Netherlands (CPN) now merged into the GroenLinks (GL) party and journalist. Biography Early life Bakker was the son of an accountant w ...

as chairperson of the CPN parliamentary party. She remained in the House of Representatives until 1986, when the CPN lost its three seats in the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

and disappeared from the House. Brouwer was a longtime advocate of a merger of the CPN, the Christian left

Political Party of Radicals The Political Party of Radicals ( nl, Politieke Partij Radikalen, PPR) was a Christian left, progressive Christian and green politics, green list of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands. The PPR played a relativ ...

and Evangelical People's Party and the leftwing socialist Pacifist Socialist Party to form a new left-wing formation. In 1989 this was realized, and the new party was called GroenLinks. After the 1989 elections Brouwer returned to the House of Representatives, as a member of parliament for GroenLinks. Between 1990 and 1991, Brouwer was one of the first members of parliament to leave the House of Representatives for a short period to give birth. The duo Ina Brouwer/

Mohammed Rabbae Mohamed Rabbae (8 March 1941 – 17 May 2022) was a Moroccan-born Dutch politician and activist. Life Born in Berrechid, in the French protectorate in Morocco, then controlled by Vichy France, Rabbae fled in 1966 as a student from Morocco to ...

were the top candidate for the

1994 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1994. Africa * 1994 Botswana general election * 1994 Guinea-Bissau general election * 1994 Malawian general election * 1994 Mozambican general election * 1994 Namibian general election * 1994 South Afr ...

after winning a preliminary from Paul Rosenmöller/

Leonie Sipkes Leonie or Léonie is a Latin-origin feminine given name meaning "lioness", from the masculine personal name ''Leon'' (meaning "lion"). Leonie evolved to Léonie in France. It is rare as a surname. People People with the name or its variants inclu ...

. Brouwer and Rabbae were not very successful in the general elections and the party lost one of its six seats. Brouwer announced that she would step down and not take her seat in parliament. Between 1995 and 2003, Brouwer worked at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment as director for

emancipation Emancipation generally means to free a person from a previous restraint or legal disability. More broadly, it is also used for efforts to procure economic and social rights, political rights or equality, often for a specifically disenfranchi ...

and a quartermaster for the Academy of the ministry. In 2003, she published a book, ''Het glazen plafond. Vrouwen aan de top, verlangens & obstakels'' ("The

Glass ceiling A glass ceiling is a metaphor usually applied to women, used to represent an invisible barrier that prevents a given demographic from rising beyond a certain level in a hierarchy.Federal Glass Ceiling Commission''Solid Investments: Making Full ...

. Women at the top, desires, and obstacles") on the position of women on the labour market. In 2005 Brouwer became a senior advisor at Twynstra Gudde, where she advises public institutions on diversity, social affairs and government reform. In January 2007, Ina Brouwer announced that she became a member of the

Dutch Labour Party The Labour Party ( nl, Partij van de Arbeid, , abbreviated as ''PvdA'', or ''P van de A'', ) is a social-democratic political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1946 as a merger of the Social Democratic Workers' Party, the Fre ...

in addition to her membership of GroenLinks. She did this in protest against GroenLinks' decision to abandon negotiations with the Labour Party, the Christian Democratic Appeal, and the

Christian Union Christian Union may refer to: * Christian Union (Lithuania), a Lithuanian Christian democratic political party (''Krikščionių sąjunga'' in Lithuanian) * Christian Union (Netherlands), a Dutch Christian democratic political party (''ChristenUn ...

during the cabinet formation. Brouwer thought that this was a missed opportunity.

References

External links

;Official *
Mr. I. (Ina) Brouwer
Parlement & Politiek , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Brouwer, Ina 1950 births Living people Chairmen of GroenLinks Chairmen of the Communist Party of the Netherlands Leaders of the Communist Party of the Netherlands Leaders of GroenLinks Dutch atheists Dutch health and wellness writers Dutch nonprofit directors Dutch nonprofit executives Dutch relationships and sexuality writers Dutch trade association executives Dutch political consultants Dutch women activists Dutch activists Dutch women lawyers Dutch political party founders GroenLinks politicians Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Politicians from Amsterdam Lawyers from Rotterdam Dutch socialist feminists University of Groningen alumni 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch educators 20th-century Dutch lawyers 20th-century Dutch women politicians 20th-century Dutch politicians 20th-century Dutch women writers 21st-century Dutch civil servants 21st-century Dutch educators 21st-century Dutch lawyers 21st-century Dutch women writers 20th-century women lawyers 21st-century women lawyers