With gender equality so prominent in public debate, this timely book reviews the impacts of gender mainstreaming on political, social and cultural issues around Europe. It explores the origins and evolution of mainstreaming, the theory’s contribution to gender equality legislation so far and its potential to drive change in the future. Drawing on extensive data, the book compares and contrasts progress in various European countries, taking into account the multidimensionality of gender equality. Finally, the book considers the limits of gender mainstreaming amid economic, migration and political challenges. This important book is a welcome contribution to discussions about gender equality in European societies looking at the interplay of policies, culture and public opinion.
In theory, the EU’s ‘Gender Mainstreaming’ policy should mark it out as a trail-blazer in gender equality, but gender equality activists in Europe confront a knotty problem; most civil servants and policy makers can’t understand how to ‘mainstream’ gender. Making Gender Equality Happen argues that we should take this problem seriously. In this book Cavaghan uncovers the social processes that make gender appear irrelevant to so many policy makers using a new method, gender knowledge contestation analysis. Building on this new perspective Cavaghan identifies: barriers to effective gender mainstreaming; mechanisms of resistance to gender mainstreaming; and the steps towards positive change, which gender mainstreaming can yield, even when results stop short of ‘transformation’. These findings present fresh perspectives for policy makers and activists aiming to make gender equality happen. Cavaghan’s new method also opens fresh avenues in feminist EU studies, which are particularly relevant in the wake of the financial crisis, as the EU seems to be stepping away from its commitments to gender equality.
In a context of economic and budgetary crisis, this book presents a long-term analysis of the transformations of EU gender equality. It analyses the mechanisms of construction, consolidation and deconstruction of this policy and questions the effects of its current dismantling.
In 1996 the European Union formally adopted the equality strategy of gender mainstreaming. This strategy seeks to achieve equality between men and women by integrating a gender perspective into all public policies in order to ensure that the (often different) needs of women and men are taken into account. This dossier examines the impact of gender mainstreaming upon EU policy-making procedures and key EU policies. The discussion is divided into three parts. Part One clarifies the concept of gender mainstreaming, highlighting the theoretical justification for and policy-making implications of this approach. Part Two explains how and why gender mainstreaming came to be adopted by the EU. Part Three evaluates the impact of gender mainstreaming upon the EU policy-making process up to the time of publication.
After decades of steady progress in terms of gender and sexual rights, several parts of Europe are facing new waves of resistance to a so-called ‘gender ideology’ or ‘gender theory’. Opposition to progressive gender equality is manifested in challenges to marriage equality, abortion, reproductive technologies, gender mainstreaming, sex education, sexual liberalism, transgender rights, antidiscrimination policies and even to the notion of gender itself. This book examines how an academic concept of gender, when translated by religious organizations such as the Roman Catholic Church, can become a mobilizing tool for, and the target of, social movements. How can we explain religious discourses about sex difference turning intro massive street demonstrations? How do forms of organization and protest travel across borders? Who are the actors behind these movements? This collection is a transnational and comparative attempt to better understand anti-gender mobilizations in Europe. It focuses on national manifestations in eleven European countries, including Russia, from massive street protests to forms of resistance such as email bombarding and street vigils. It examines the intersection of religious politics with rising populism and nationalistic anxieties in contemporary Europe.
In contrast to the wealth of studies on progress towards gender equality, opposition to gender equality is rarely studied, which makes it difficult to understand the positive and negative dynamics of gender equality as a political project. The first of its kind, this timely collection examines the potential and challenges of our current scholarship on understanding opposition to gender+ equality in Europe. Divided into three parts, Mieke Verloo and her team of international experts begin Varieties of Opposition to Gender Equality in Europe by theorizing the dynamics of opposition to gender equality policies in Europe. Part Two highlights oppositional actors (politicians, governments, citizens, policy makers, churches) and political arenas (parliament, courts, Internet), as well as different and opposing visions of gender+ equality. Part Three concludes with a framework for understanding oppositional dynamics on gender equality change. Setting the agenda for future research, this book will be useful for students of gender and politics, social movements, European integration, and policy studies, as well as for high-level policymakers, students, and feminist activists alike. It will be an inspiration to thinkers and doers and to scholars and political actors.
‘Bridging European and gender studies, this volume deserves a great welcome to the literature. It not only offers a feminist reading of Europeanisation in general, but also discusses the process of Europeanisation and de-Europeanisation of Turkey with regard to changes in gender policy. The book demonstrates that the EU is the leading body to advocate gender equality, and also proves that it is a firm gender actor compared to other international organisations. However, as the volume also shows, the EU is not yet a normative gender actor due to the absence of a feminist rationale in promoting gender equality abroad. The contributions offer significant insights into EU-Turkey relations from a gender studies perspective.’ Ayhan Kaya, Professor of Politics and Jean Monnet Chair for European Politics of Interculturalism, Istanbul Bilgi University, Turkey ‘Süleymanoğlu-Kürüm and Cin have curated a timely volume that applies a feminist lens to the well-known Europeanisation framework. Using the case of Turkey, the book extends the focus of European studies scholarship that analyses the adaptation of non-member states to EU policies and practices to setting a new feminist agenda in the adaptation to the EU. Beyond the new insights offered on the Turkish case study, the volume provides a powerful critique, and highlights the limits of the EU’s reach outside of its current border.’ Toni Haastrup, Senior Lecturer in International Politics, University of Stirling, UK ‘This pioneering volume, which extends feminist perspectives to the study of EU toward candidate countries, is a must-read for scholars of EU integration and gender studies.’ Bahar Rumelili, Professor and Jean Monnet Chair at the Department of International Relations, Koc University, Turkey This book explores the Europeanisation of gender policies and addresses some of the challenges of the debates surrounding the EU’s impact on domestic politics. Using Turkey as a case study, it illustrates that Europeanisation needs a feminist agenda and perspective. The first part of the book critically engages with the literature on Europeanisation, the EU’s gender policies and gender policymaking, and the interaction between Europeanisation and gender policies to argue that the Europeanisation framework falls short in devising sustainable gender policies due to a lack of feminist rationale and theory. Subsequently, the book develops a feminist framework of Europeanisation by drawing on the work of key feminist philosophers (Carole Pateman, Onora O’Neill, Nancy Fraser, Anne Phillips, Iris Young) and uses this framework to offer a critique of the Europeanisation of gender policies in various areas where the EU has prompted changes to domestic policies, including in civil society, political representation, private sector, violence against women, education, and asylum policy.
This book is an actor-centred sociological study of the EU-level processes that produce gender equality policy. Based on interviews and documentary analysis, the study unpacks the process of the “Roadmap for Equality between Women and Men 2006-2010” to explain the different roles of actors in the making of EU gender equality policies. By analysing policy processes inside institutions and among institutions, the study focuses on the internal working logics in and between EU-level institutions. It highlights the shifting spaces, openings, and constraints for the development of gender equality policies. Concentrating on EU policy programmes helps shed light on the invisible aspects of EU gender equality policy-making and how this process changed regarding actors, structure and content in the late 2000s. This book will be of interest to students and scholars in the fields of EU politics, gender politics, and public policy, as well as to institutional and non-governmental actors in the area of gender politics in Europe and the working of EU politics.
Combining research, theory and practice, pan-European perspectives and the disciplines of human rights, sociology and politics, this book offers a rare insight into the multiplicity of issues surrounding women's equality, citizenship and political rights in transitional Europe and an expanding European Union. From policy-making to civil rights, domestic violence and education, experienced authors present innovative research, analysis and suggestions for the future of women as participants in an evolving Europe.
Gender equality has been one of the defining projects of European welfarestates. It has proven an elusive goal, not just because of political opposition but also due to a lack of clarity in how to best frame equality and take account of family-related considerations. This wide-ranging book assembles the most pertinent literature and evidence to provide a critical understanding of how contemporary state policies engage with gender inequalities.
