Unpacking the Russian doll: gendered and intersectionalized categories in European gender equality policies (original) (raw)

van der Haar, Marleen, and Mieke Verloo. "Unpacking the Russian doll: gendered and intersectionalized categories in European gender equality policies." Politics, Groups, and Identities 1.3 (2013): 417-432

Both theoretically and normatively, the question of whether and how to generalize or specify gendered social actors in policy-making has been much debated. While some stress the need to specify and intersectionalize actors so that interfering power dynamics can be addressed, others highlight the dangers involved in any reification of social categories. This paper analyzes the actual gendered and intersectionalized category-making of social actors in gender equality policies across Europe, using a database of 2088 recent laws, policy plans, and civil society documents on gender equality from 29 countries plus the EU level. Analyzing four policy issues, we find that the generic category “women” is often present, although less in laws. Intersectionalized categories, however, are rare, as is an articulation of these actors' specific problems or how policies could address their needs. Lastly, we find the category of minoritized women more often used in ways that are open to stigmatiz...

Framing gender intersections in the European Union: what implications for the quality of intersectionality in policies?

This article explores the extent to which the emergence of an antidiscrimination policy in the European Union (EU) implies a shift in EU gender equality policies towards an intersectional approach. The frame analysis of EU gender equality policy documents shows that intersectional dimensions are increasingly present but they are treated implicitly and from a separate perspective, and the inclusion of a wide range of inequalities often implies a degendering of the policy content. We assess the implications of the identified intersectionality trends for the quality of intersectionality in gender equality policies, and we suggest the practice of an "intersectionality impact assessment" as a way to improve the quality of EU policy-making.

QUING WHY paper for Intersectionality Call Framing gender intersections in the European Union: what implications for the quality of intersectionality in policies?1

2016

This paper explores the extent to which the emergence of an anti-discrimination policy in the European Union (EU) implies a shift in EU gender equality policies towards an intersectional approach. The frame analysis of EU gender equality policy documents shows that intersectional dimensions are increasingly present but they are treated implicitly and from a separate perspective, and the inclusion of a wide range of inequalities often implies a degendering of the policy content. We assess the implications of the identified intersectionality trends for the quality of intersectionality in gender equality policies and we suggest the practice of an ‘intersectionality impact assessment ’ as a way to improve the quality of EU policy-making. In this regard, we particularly focus on the interface between the civil society and the EU institutions.

More actors butter no parsnips: Gaining insights into gender equality programs of the European Union

jhubc.it

When the Treaty of Amsterdam came into force, more competencies for the European Commission were introduced in the field of gender equality policy. However, gender equality policy seems to be different from other policy fields, where competencies were newly configured. While there is more often than not a tendency on the EU level to broaden responsibility, this seems to be less evident for equality between women and men.

Framing Gender Equality in the European Union Political Discourse

In the last decade, the European Union (EU) approach to gender equality has broadened to new concepts, such as gender mainstreaming, and new issues, such as "family policies", "domestic violence", and "gender inequality in politics". However, the frame analysis of policy documents in these new areas shows, first, that each issue has developed its own particular features, and, secondly, that the broadening of the EU-political discourse on gender equality has not led to a deeper framing of the issues in terms of gender equality. The lack of EU competence in these areas, the status of the policy documents, and differences in the actors having a voice and being referred to in the documents are proposed as possible explanations for its framing.

ECPR First European Conference on Politics and Gender

2009

The European Union (EU) gender equality policy has experienced important changes in the last decade, due, among other factors, to developments in anti-discrimination policy from Article 13 of the Amsterdam Treaty onwards. The anti-discrimination approach is not only changing the EU legal and political framework on equality, with the approval of legally binding directives (2000/43/EC and 2000/78/EC) and the proposal of new ones. It is also provoking debates on the intersection of gender with other inequalities. This paper aims at grasping how such developments have been reflected in the Union’s gender equality policies by exploring the framing of intersectionality in EU gender equality policy documents from 1995 to 2007. It analyses documents produced by institutional and civil society actors in the areas of ‘gender based violence’, ‘intimate citizenship’ and ‘non employment’, all issues that were researched within the European QUING project. Our interest in exploring the concept of ...