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Changing State Feminism
Abstract
The second wave of feminism challenged the state in post-industrial democracies with its demands; in response, states set up women’s policy agencies to improve women’s status. Studies from the 1980s and 1990s have shown that ‘state feminism’ exists: many agencies are important in realizing women’s movements’ demands in policy-making and in gaining access for women to decision-making arenas. The starting point for this book is the restructuring of the political context, where state feminism is situated, over the last decade. As a result, both ‘the state’ and ‘feminism’ have changed in significant ways. On the one hand, there have been major developments, such as globalization, regionalization, welfare state restructuring, privatization and the rise of multilevel governance. On the other hand, state feminists have to deal with new gender equality policies that include a focus on diversity and gender mainstreaming. Both developments demand rethinking state feminism and new empirical research and comparative analysis on the topic.
... One of the most discussed forms of partnership between women's movements and states are women's policy agencies. The potential of women's policy agencies to support and channel feminist activism and to influence policy outcomes, labeled state feminism, was more systematically analyzed in the comparative project Research Network on Gender Politics and the State (RNGS; Stetson and Mazur 1995;Outshoorn and Kantola 2007;McBride and Mazur 2010). The RNGS examined whether state feminism in the "Western postindustrialized world" (McBride and Mazur 2010, 4) contributes to improving the democratic representation of women's interests. ...
... The RNGS examined whether state feminism in the "Western postindustrialized world" (McBride and Mazur 2010, 4) contributes to improving the democratic representation of women's interests. The project showed diversity in the strength and scope of existent state feminisms, the vulnerability of the quality of state feminisms to government changes, to reconfiguration of states and governance systems, to intersectionality, and even to gender mainstreaming (Outshoorn and Kantola 2007;Outshoorn 2010). State feminist structures also proved vulnerable to working with homogenizing notions of women's movements, open to mainstream, highly institutionalized feminist groups, but less inclusive of loosely formalized groups, intersectional perspectives, and minority women or conservative women's groups (Outshoorn and Kantola 2007). ...
... The project showed diversity in the strength and scope of existent state feminisms, the vulnerability of the quality of state feminisms to government changes, to reconfiguration of states and governance systems, to intersectionality, and even to gender mainstreaming (Outshoorn and Kantola 2007;Outshoorn 2010). State feminist structures also proved vulnerable to working with homogenizing notions of women's movements, open to mainstream, highly institutionalized feminist groups, but less inclusive of loosely formalized groups, intersectional perspectives, and minority women or conservative women's groups (Outshoorn and Kantola 2007). In addition, research identified challenges inherent to partnership between states and women's movements such as cooptation, movement dependency on state agencies and funding, and vulnerabilities of feminist organizing in the context of neoliberal reconfiguration of states (Alvarez 1999;Banaszak et al. 2003;Elman 2003). ...
De-democratization and hostility to gender equality alter relations between states and feminists. State feminism, which focuses on cooperation between feminists and states, needs amendments for applicability in such contexts. We propose the integration of anti-gender actors into the analysis. We also suggest moving away from the assumption that transactional activism targeting states is the most effective strategy for feminists to respond to such hostile contexts and discuss the potential of more diversified forms of engagement. To illustrate our conceptual framework, we look at changing political dynamics in three recent democracies: Croatia, Hungary, and Poland.
... Privatisation of infrastructures such as power, water, telecom, the container terminal and Air Tanzania (United Republic of Tanzania, 2005) Privatisation of land (Pallotti, 2008) Opening up for foreign investments (Gibbon, 1995) Privatisation of infrastructure such as railway, pharmaceuticals, banking, forestry and telecom (Gratzer et al., 2010) Outsourcing to private businesses, customerchoice systems, etc. Individual agency and promoted locally (Pallotti, 2008) Individualisation of land rights (Pallotti, 2008) Self-images shaped towards independent and autonomous citizenship (Sigalla and Carney, 2012) Entrepreneurship in schoolfostering the enterprising self (Berglund, 2013) Making women responsible for developing an entrepreneurial persona (Kantola and Outshoorn, 2007) JEC institutional set-up is consequently an advantage. A context is better understood when an alternative pattern is used to provide a contrast (Brislin and Walter, 1973;Stewart et al., 1994;Marcus, 1986). ...
... In contrast, Swedish state feminism has resulted in legislation and reforms supportive of women. It has also resulted in entities within the state, women's policy agencies, tasked with working for and monitoring, the status of women (Kantola and Outshoorn, 2007). In Tanzania the women's movement became fragmented during the colonial era. ...
... The welfare state of Sweden, on the other hand, concentrated on the privatisation of welfare and was greatly affected by new public management and initiatives to increase the number of private businesses providing welfare services. With regard to informal change, the reviewed studies (summarised in Table 2) showed that individualism and entrepreneurialism are promoted as norms (Scott, 2001) both in Tanzania (Pallotti, 2008;Sigalla and Carney, 2012) and in Sweden (Berglund, 2013;Kantola and Outshoorn, 2007). Nonetheless, the collective women's groups, chamas, retain their importance in Tanzania. ...
Purpose
Contrasting two countries with different gender regimes and welfare states, Sweden and Tanzania, this paper aims to analyse how the institutional context affects the ways in which a neo-liberal reform agenda is translated into institutional changes and propose how such changes impact the preconditions for women’s entrepreneurship.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses document analysis and previous studies to describe and analyse the institutions and the institutional changes. This paper uses Scandinavian institutional theory as the interpretative framework.
Findings
This study proposes that: in well-developed welfare states with a high level of gender equality, consequences of neo-liberal agenda for the preconditions for women entrepreneurs are more likely to be negative than positive. In less developed states with a low level of gender equality, the gendered consequences of neo-liberal reforms may be mixed and the preconditions for women’s entrepreneurship more positive than negative. How neo-liberalism impacts preconditions for women entrepreneurs depend on the institutional framework in terms of a trustworthy women-friendly state and level of gender equality.
Research limitations/implications
The study calls for bringing the effects on the gender of the neo-liberal primacy of market solutions out of the black box. Studying how women entrepreneurs perceive these effects necessitates qualitative ethnographic data.
Originality/value
This paper demonstrates why any discussion of the impact of political or economic reforms on women’s entrepreneurship must take a country’s specific institutional context into account. Further, previous studies on neo-liberalism have rarely taken an interest in Africa.
... The study of the cooperation between women's movement and the state structures has so far drawn extensively on the study of epistemic communities (Hoard, 2015). Within the concept of the so-called state-sponsored feminism (Walby, 2011;Kantola, Outshoorn, 2007), the arrangement between the state structures and non-governmental actors is emphasised. As Kantola and Squires (2012) argue, the more-or-less external actors have been called in to supply policy-relevant knowledge and provide a supposedly objective framing of particular issues within many Western administrations. ...
... Furthermore, in relation to the velvet triangles, the functioning and unity of an epistemic community may be directly related to the need to exercise bureaucratic power, which is necessary for the community to retain its impact (Haas, 1997). The so-called 'femocrats' 52 (Eisenstein, 1989;Van Der Vleuten, 2007;Kantola, Outshoorn, 2007), as actors of the state-sponsored feminism, have been of particular interest to scholars aiming to understand the existence of epistemic communities. As Eisenstein (1989) concludes, the decision of feminist activists to enter state and governmental institutions must be seen as a conscious political strategy (Eisenstein, 1989), which is to make use of the existing opportunity structure. ...
... The institutionalisation of the feminist agenda has been considerably facilitated by the acceptance of Slovakia into the European Union and the pre-accession reforms. While ridden with the competition for tender-based funding of the NGOs (from EU structures and other international organisations), which are constantly forced to 'professionalise', there has been considerable institutionalisation of the so-called state-based feminism (Walby, 2011;Kantola, Outshoorn, 2007). Nevertheless, such initiatives have been extensively opposed over the recent years with the use of the so-called anti-gender rhetoric, which has been occurring at different levels of policymaking, causing significant side-lining and backsliding (Verloo, 2018a, Verloo, Paternotte, 2018. ...
Recent developments of European Union policymaking in the area of gender equality, including the area of ‘violence against women’, led to the adoption of indicator-based tools of policymaking, such as benchmarking, ranking, and good-practice sharing. The shift towards these tools aimed to strengthen the role of the European Union within the area subsumed under the principle of subsidiarity by appealing to the concept of ‘evidence-based policymaking’. While a considerable body of theoretical literature has already been developed in this regard, empirical studies observing the real impact of these tools within EU Member State policymaking have so far been scarce. Relying on a discursive-sociological institutionalist approach tracing processes and practices, this case study aims to study such impact. It more particularly investigates the impact of indicator-based tools upon a variety of public sector and non-governmental actors in the Slovak policymaking environment. It studies these tools with the aid of theories on (non)learning, and governmentality, and the broader setting of Europeanisation studies.
... In order to achieve feminist goals, cooperation with the state is necessary. In the Nordic countries, state feminism signifies the achievement of formal gender equality and women-friendly welfare policies through the state (Kantola and Squires, 2012, Kantola and Outshoorn, 2007). Kantola and Squires (2012) argue that state feminism is indeed changing, in regard to both state practices (e.g. ...
... globalisation, New Public Management) and feminism itself (diversity policies and gender mainstreaming). The change has been particularly dramatic since 1995, entailing changes such as globalisation, welfare state restructuring, privatisation and the rise of multilevel governance – in other words, the national and international levels of authority (Outshoorn and Kantola, 2007). Even with several positive aspects associated with the welfare state from feminist perspectives, it is not and never has been purely positive from the feminist point of view. ...
... For example, policies associated with improving women's position in the labour market, such as paid parental leave, have also maintained traditional gender roles with women as the main caregivers. The Nordic welfare state has been criticised for moving women from private dependency on fathers and husbands to public dependency on the state (Rantalaiho, 1997, Kantola and Outshoorn, 2007). Recently, the movement has again been back from a more egalitarian to a neofamilial model with women's increased financial dependency on men and men's dependency upon care work provided by women at home (Julkunen, 2010, Haataja, 2004). ...
The gender pay gap is a persistent challenge across different national contexts. Within these contexts, however, the underlying mechanisms that have resulted in the gender pay gap can take different shapes. In Finland, the gender pay gap has been resistant to policy measures implemented in order to reduce it. This thesis aims to shed light on some of the central features of Finnish society, its institutional context, central actors, and stakeholders, and how these are linked to the apparent failures of Finnish equal pay policy. This study offers a broad-ranging sociological understanding of Finnish society, its historical development , and the kind of citizenship it has offered to its female citizens. The thesis also discusses the role of central labour market organisations in institutionalising wage relativities between the different industries in the Finnish labour market and protecting their vested interests in policy-making. The empirical part of the thesis consists of three articles, each of which addresses an issue that is critical to Finn-ish and international equal pay policy: the role of collective agreements in institutionalising gendered valuations in wage setting in the Finnish local government sector, evaluation based pay systems and the assumption that they inherently promote gender pay equity, and non-decision making in tripartite policy process and the way it affected the drafting of the new Finnish gender equality legislation. The first data set was gathered in a participatory action research project in which 18 Finnish organisations took part. The aim of the project was to promote equal pay through developing pay systems. The second data set consists of the official minutes of the meetings of the tripartite working group that drafted the law about equal pay comparisons that are mandatory for organisations to conduct. The thesis mainly uses qualitative research methods, along with quantitative and documentary analysis. Based on the research findings, the following arguments are made. The Finnish welfare state has played an active role in creating a secondary labour market for Finnish women in the reproductive work of the public sector. The central labour market organisations have further strengthened the gendered division of labour and hierarchy between male-dominated and female-dominated sectors and industries by institutionalising the wage relativities between these industries in collective agreements. As central actors and powerful players in Finnish policy-making, the central labour market organisations protect their vested interests and resist changes to equal pay policy and legislation. Instead of directly addressing the most important structural and institutional features of the Finnish labour market, current Finnish equal pay policy focuses on less controversial issues, such as organisational practices. Failure to address the most relevant issues on gender pay equity results in modest advances in policy outcomes. HANKEN SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS HELSINKI ARKADIANKATU 22, P.O. BOX 479 00101 HELSINKI, FINLAND TEL +358 (0)9 431 331. FAX +358 (0)9 431 33 333 VAASA KIRJASTONKATU 16, P.O. BOX 287 65101 VAASA, FINLAND TEL +358 (0)6 3533 700. FAX +358 (0)6 3533 703 BIBLIOTEKET@HANKEN.FI HANKEN.FI/DHANKEN ISBN 978-952-232-321-7 (printed) ISBN 978-952-232-322-4 (PDF) ISSN-L 0424-7256 ISSN 0424-7256 (printed) ISSN 2242-699X (PDF) JUVENES PRINT, HELSINKI
... With this aim, this article focuses on Portugal where counter-trafficking has been addressed through the actions of one of the main gender equality official mechanismsthe Commission for Citizenship and Gender Equality (CIG), and with its attempts to include the women's movement demands and actors in the state, this public body has come to be described as an expression of Portuguese 'state feminism' (Monteiro and Ferreira, 2016; see also Kantola and Outshoorn, 2007). Also in this national context, both the neoliberal outsourcing of social services to non-state actors and the logic of multi-sector partnerships informing counter-trafficking have favoured the presence of feminist and women's organisations in counter-trafficking. ...
... Meanwhile, the words of the representatives of the Portuguese gender policy agency that coordinates counter-trafficking actions, in emphasising the limited possibilities of intervention on the political issues that trafficking raises, confirm the degeneration of mechanisms of state feminism into merely symbolic entities, ineffective at changing the terms of the policy-making process to coincide with those of feminist and women's organisations (Monteiro and Ferreira, 2016; see also Kantola and Outshoorn, 2007). Through this bureaucratic structure of governance, the state has managed to avoid the contrasts created by the prostitution (and other) debate(s), and has ensured the possibility of achieving its bureaucratic goal of building a national counter-trafficking system. ...
Focusing on the Portuguese case, this article explores the role of feminism in counter-trafficking. Through analysing feminist discourse on human trafficking, the article interrogates feminism's ability and its limitations in challenging or reinforcing some of the most controversial policy outcomes. The article argues that, due to a structural weakness within feminism itself and the profound institutionalisation of counter-trafficking, any possibility of challenging dominant discourses on trafficking remains a distant dream. Rather, counter-trafficking attempts ultimately help create a controversial neoliberal space that strains feminism's transformative potential while simultaneously strengthening bureaucratic state feminism.
... What is the institutional contextual framework that shapes the playing field so that it favors certain prevailing policy responses over others? In order to answer these questions, we rely on insights from institutionalist comparative analysis such as Stetson and Mazur (1995), McBride and Mazur (2010), Outshoorn and Kantola (2007) in the Research Network on Gender Politics and the State (RNGS) project, or Waylen (2007). Such enquiries into the interaction between important state actors, formal politics, and women's movements, between pro-gender equality actors and important veto players (and their standing and institutionalization), provide valuable contributions for understanding why some adopted policies take on certain meanings and not others. ...
... Members of left-wing parties and trade unions are often recognized as traditional allies for feminist actors in Western democracies (Holli, 2008;Stetson & Mazur, 1995). The presence of left-wing governments is generally seen as favorable for advancing gender equality (Outshoorn & Kantola, 2007;Viterna & Fallon, 2008). Left-wing governments have also been found more ready to institutionalize gender equality policies in CEE countries (Krizsán & Zentai, 2012). ...
... rodno osviještena politika primjenjivati za uklanjanje diskriminacije na osnovi seksualne orijentacije (Verloo, 2006.; Kantola i Squires, 2010.). 28 Ponekad različite mjere i instrumenti mogu biti i kontraproduktivni -često se spominju suprotstavljene potrebe u borbi protiv rodne i vjerske diskriminacije. S druge strane, mnoge feminističke teoretičarke i praktičarke izražavaju skepsu spram pristupa koji (iznova) zanemaruje rod. ...
... godine. 28 Upravo zato autorice poput Squires i Verloo zagovaraju promišljeniju primjenu raznolikošću osviještene politike (eng. diversity mainstreaming), odnosno jednakošću osviještene politike (eng. ...
Rodni režim Europske unije je distinktivan režim specifične
geneze, osebujnih pravila i kompleksnih procedura.
Javne politike koje mu pripadaju čine portfelj rodne jednakosti
država članica i kandidatkinja. Nužno je stoga biti upućen u
njihov sadržaj, ali i povijest. U članku se analizira kompleksni
nastanak politike rodne jednakosti obilježen političkim
borbama oko suprotstavljenih vizija jednakosti, utjecajima
drugih međunarodnih režima te internim institucionalnim
sukobima. Glavno je pitanje: kako se u posljednjih šezdeset
godina razvijala politika rodne jednakosti EU-a te kakve su
njene ocjene i projekcije za njenu budućnost? U odgovaranju
na ovo pitanje koriste se originalni javnopolitički dokumenti
EU-a, kao i uvidi bogate literature iz politologijskog područja
roda i politike. Članak se zaključuje uvidom kako nakon pola
stoljeća razvoja, koji je bio obilježen epizodama javnopolitičkih
inovacija (u kojima EU nije bila puka sljedbenica, već
dapače predvodnica napretka na globalnoj sceni), dolazi do
zabrinjavajućeg zastoja u formulaciji i implementaciji politike
rodne jednakosti.
Ključne riječi: rodna jednakost, javne politike, ženske javnopolitičke agencije, Europska unija, feministička kritika
... Además, cuando dicen apostar por la "igualdad de género", no siempre se da respuesta a las desigualdades estructurales existentes entre mujeres y hombres y, con frecuencia, el foco se pone en atender a las mujeres, en muchas ocasiones en tanto que madres y cuidadoras. A este respecto, frente a un enfoque transformador de género, que propone medidas para atacar a las causas estructurales de la desigualdad, persiste un enfoque integracionista orientado a incluir a las mujeres en las políticas públicas sin dirigir la mirada a las desiguales relaciones de poder entre los géneros y su interconexión con otras formas de desigualdad (Kantola y Outshoorn, 2007y Walby, 2005. ...
... de género y su interconexión con otros factores de desigualdad. Persiste, como mencionamos en páginas anteriores, un enfoque integracionista que tiene como finalidad incluir a las mujeres en las políticas públicas sin atender las desiguales relaciones de poder entre los géneros (Kantola y Outshoorn, 2007y Walby, 2005. ...
Esta guía quiere ser un instrumento para todas aquellas personas que llevan a cabo análisis de políticas públicas o diseñan acciones de incidencia política y que, con su trabajo, quieren contribuir a una mayor igualdad real entre mujeres y hombres como elemento clave para la justicia social. En sus páginas, encontrarán ideas fuerza sobre cómo dirigir la mirada a la desigualdad de género, y su intersección con otras desigualdades, en las diferentes fases del ciclo de las políticas públicas de cara a impulsar su potencial transformador de género.
... To overcome such barriers, gathering multiple audiences and fostering inclusive deliberation becomes central in transformative governance practices (Squires 2005). In this model, the mechanisms by which gender machineries become accountable to their social constituencies are also a major factor (Kantola and Outshoorn 2007). The full adoption of a transformative model is not devoid of challenges. ...
... As feminist institutional theorists point out (e.g., Kantola and Outshoorn 2007;Krizsan, Skjeie, and Squires 2012), gender transformations in the state involve the study of women's policy agencies, the broader gender equality architecture of the state apparatus, political processes of institutional representation (gender quotas and parity), and gender mainstreaming as a policy practice. This broader analytic outlook is relevant in light of the findings. ...
In Latin America, the last fifteen years of left-wing government provide an opportunity to examine whether government ideology matters for the institutional design of gender policy machineries. We conduct a cross-national comparison of gender policy machinery governance models, taking three well-established models—bureaucratic, participatory, and transformative—as empirical guidance. We find that no one clear model is associated with government ideology. By studying four cases in-depth—Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and Venezuela—we provide a more nuanced interpretation of how governance models are influenced by an interaction between party type, broader state capacities, and participatory structures.
... First of all, the shift has taught that the promotion of equality needs publicly funded projects. Secondly, such projects represent a significant transformation in the promotion of equality, which has been marked by the emergence of new forms of governance (Outshoorn & Kantola, 2007). Consequently, such projects as new forms of governance direct how equality work is done. ...
This article concerns the discursive power relations that have led to equality work in Finland. In addition to marketisation, publicly-funded projects, especially those funded by the European Union, have permeated the public sector. Equality has been labelled women’s work and something that women do and the continuity of equality work requires a complex form of competence. In this article, ways have been looked to analyse the current situation by conducting an analysis that will enable to see not only the discursive power relations that shape gender equality work but also how it has been possible that gender equality work has succeeded in remaining continuous. Persistence of problems concerning equality as well as co-operation between women and the ‘discourse virtuosity’ of equality work have opened up opportunities for continuity but not without problems.
... The Swedish -or rather Nordic -welfare state has been called the women-friendly state (Hernes, 1987). In contrast to the situation elsewhere (MacKinnon, 1989) Swedish feminists worked through the state and the elective system, rather than in opposition to it; a so-called state feminist approach (Kantola & Outshoorn, 2007). Women have held between 40 and 47 per cent of the seats in the Swedish parliament since 1994 (Statistics Sweden, 2020). ...
... Over the past three decades, feminist and women's rights activism 1 has addressed many policy issues and employed various strategies, but no topic has been as high on the agenda as gender-based violence against women 2 . This policy issue was developed early on by civil society actors and femocrats -bureaucrats working within the administration (Eisenstein 1989;Kantola & Outshoorn 2007) -and managed to garner significant media attention and the interest of political elites. At the same time, the issue has experienced the most severe political backsliding (Krizsán & Roggeband 2018) in the past years. ...
... Istovremeno, zamjetna je i veća heterogenost pristupa kao i raznolikija istraživačka pitanja. Na primjer, koja je uloga ženskih agencija u debatama o javnim politikama, jesu li ženske agencije zagovornice ciljeva ženskih/feminističkih pokreta, koje su determinante uspjeha ženskih agencija, na koji se način diskurzivno uokviruju zahtjevi ženskog/ feminističkog pokreta u areni stvaranja javnih politika itd.? (Kantola i Outshoorn, 2007;Mazur i McBride, 2007;Mazur i Pollack, 2009). 37 S obzirom na istraživanje države i političkih institucija, Mazur razlikuje četiri distinktivna potpodručja studija feminističkih komparativnih javnih politika: 38 1. formulacija feminističkih javnih politika (tj. ...
U tekstu se daje prikaz feminizma kao normativnog
i empirijskog pristupa političkoj znanosti: razjašnjava evolucija
feminističkih pokreta, ideja i istraživanja kao i ključni uvidi te koncepti. Ovim iscrpnim prikazom iznova se pokazuje, većinom nepriznat ali važan, doprinos feminističkog pristupa u politologiji te se on zaključuje zahtjevom za većom inkluzivnošću feminizma u političku znanost glavnog toka.
... Feminist political scholars have made significant contributions to these questions, as they have been long interested in the factors conducive to institutional change through institutions, movements and policies such as women's policy agencies, positive action interventions and gender mainstreaming. This research has analysed in detail the interaction between women's movements and political institutions within the context of political opportunity structures, with the aim to understand the factors facilitating and constraining change towards gender equality (Lovenduski, 2008;McBride & Mazur, 2010;Outshoorn & Kantola, 2007). However, in understanding the varying degrees of success of those initiatives, this research has come up against important limitations. ...
This article explores research on gender and institutions for the purposes of informing analytical frameworks for research on institutional change with regard to gender equality in higher education. Drawing on feminist institutionalist studies that explore the relationship between gender, institutions and institutional continuity and change, the aim is to evaluate how this body of scholarship can be adapted to an analysis of the dynamics of gender equality plan implementation in universities.S
... What is the institutional contextual framework that shapes the playing field so that it favors certain prevailing policy responses over others? In order to answer these questions, we rely on insights from institutionalist comparative analysis such as Stetson and Mazur (1995), McBride and Mazur (2010), Outshoorn and Kantola (2007) in the Research Network on Gender Politics and the State (RNGS) project, or Waylen (2007). Such enquiries into the interaction between important state actors, formal politics, and women's movements, between pro-gender equality actors and important veto players (and their standing and institutionalization), provide valuable contributions for understanding why some adopted policies take on certain meanings and not others. ...
... 443) Swedish policy studies demonstrate that the idea that the position of women can be improved through individual women's business ownership has indeed rendered women's collective, political action irrelevant (Ahl et al., 2016;Pettersson et al., 2017). Neoliberal policy has limited the space for conventional feminist action; women's collective action through the state or through women's policy agencies (Outshoorn & Kantola, 2007). We posit that policy itself formulation as well as programme designhas contributed to this change: it has made certain subject positions and actions desirable and others unthinkable. ...
... Sweden, however, is traditionally associated with welfare capitalism (Esping-Andersen, 1990), where the ideological focus has been upon a collective social and economic model to promote productivity by addressing issues of inequality (Thorsen et al., 2015). Feminist considerations have been a cornerstone of such policy development (Kantola and Outshoorn, 2007). The foundations of this model, however, have shifted in recent years in response to the introduction of neoliberalist policies informing the advent of 'New Public Management' reforms enabling increasing privatization (Laegreid and Christensen, 2013). ...
Contemporary theories of neoliberalism and entrepreneurship are entwined; both hinge upon the use of agency within free markets to realize individual potential, enhance status and attain material rewards. Postfeminism, as a discrete but related discourse, suggests this context is conducive to encouraging women to draw upon their agency, skills and personal profile to enhance achievements and returns. We draw from these related, but discrete discourses, when critically analysing how postfeminist assumptions shape Swedish and UK government policies aimed at expanding women’s entrepreneurship. Despite differing historical antecedents regarding state engagement with equality and welfare regimes, we illustrate how postfeminist assumptions have infiltrated policy initiatives in both cases. This infiltration has, we suggest, suppressed criticisms that in a context of persistent structural discrimination, lack of welfare benefits and contrived aspirational role models, entrepreneurship constitutes a poor career choice for many women. Consequently, we challenge the value of contemporary policy initiatives encouraging more women to enter entrepreneurship.
... It is within the context of a mixture of global ideas, governmental policy making, local selfgovernment and feminist ideology demanding change that local governments try to operate and do gender equality by introducing gender mainstreaming. When it comes to local governments' ability to implement gender equality policy, there are divergent views in the literature, with some arguing that it is more easily done in local settings and others that it is less difficult at the national level (Outshoorn and Kantola 2007). ...
Gender mainstreaming is often described as a strategy to increase gender equality in states and other institutions and/or to make them more gender aware. It should however be considered a contested concept, and the aim of this thesis is to produce a critical perspective and empirical knowledge about whether, and if so how, gender mainstreaming contributes to a more (gender) equal society. The production of gender mainstreaming as gender equality policy is investigated, using both feminist new institutionalism and discourse theory.
The study investigates whether, and if so how, gender mainstreaming is facilitating new public management by transforming the ambitions of feminist politics into a neoliberal strategy adapted for public administration.
The case examined in this study is a local government gender mainstreaming project conducted in a municipality in Sweden. The case also includes vertical and horizontal outlooks and is categorized as a critical case. To study "what is not there" in the empirical material, the concepts of silences and silencing are used as both theoretical and methodological tools.
The thesis shows that gender mainstreaming produces a gender equality policy that is disconnected from political parties, and that gender mainstreaming becomes a common good. This, I argue, produces a non-political politics, which includes a governing technique that privileges political consensus, articulated in terms of non-conflict and win-win.
The thesis identifies a conflation between gender mainstreaming, as a strategy, with the policy objective of gender equality. Gender mainstreaming did not create space for addressing gender-based violence, or include the voice of the women’s movement, from which it can be concluded that gender mainstreaming does not contribute to feminist politics. This could have societal consequences and can influence, or even hinder, actual political change.
... En un plano más empírico, existe abundante literatura sobre la eficacia del feminismo estatal (Álvarez, 1998, 1999Baldez, 2001;Wolbrecht et al, 2008;Kantola, 2006;Kantola & Outshoorn, 2007;Katonla & Squires, 2008;Mazur, 2001Mazur & Mc Bride, 2007;Squires 2007Squires , 2008Valiente, 2007) citadas por Reverter (2011, p.224). Para el caso de los países latinoamericanos, se ha señalado cómo los programas de transferencias condicionadas refuerzan roles tradicionales de género, estigmatizan a las beneficiarias o ejercen interpretaciones terapéuticas y mecanismos disciplinadores que limitan su ciudadanía (Tabush, 2011;Nagels, 2018;Montes, 2017). ...
... 443) Swedish policy studies demonstrate that the idea that the position of women can be improved through individual women's business ownership has indeed rendered women's collective, political action irrelevant (Ahl et al., 2016;Pettersson et al., 2017). Neoliberal policy has limited the space for conventional feminist action; women's collective action through the state or through women's policy agencies (Outshoorn & Kantola, 2007). We posit that policy itself formulation as well as programme designhas contributed to this change: it has made certain subject positions and actions desirable and others unthinkable. ...
Since the early 1990s, there has been investment in women's entrepreneurship policy (WEP) in Sweden, which continued until 2015. During the same period, Sweden assumed neoliberal policies that profoundly ch7anged the position of women within the world of work and business. The goals for WEP changed as a result, from entrepreneurship as a way to create a more equal society, to the goal of unleashing women's entrepreneurial potential so they can contribute to economic growth. To better understand this shift we approach WEP as a neoliberal governmentality which offers women ‘entrepreneurial’ or ‘postfeminist’ subject positions. The analysis is inspired by political theorist Nancy Fraser who theorized the change as the displacement of socioeconomic redistribution in favour of cultural recognition, or identity politics. We use Fraser's concepts in a discourse analysis of Swedish WEP over two decades, identifying two distinct discourses and three discursive displacements. Whilst WEP initially gave precedence to a radical feminist discourse that called for women's collective action, this was replaced by a postfeminist neoliberal discourse that encouraged individual women to assume an entrepreneurial persona, start their own business, compete in the marketplace and contribute to economic growth. The result was the continued subordination of women business owners, but it also obscured or rendered structural problems/solutions, and collective feminist action, irrelevant.
... The early WLM was critical and suspicious of male dominated mainstream politics and the state (Cockburn, 1977, Rowbotham, 1996, yet also engaged it as a key interlocutor with its demands (Randall, 1998). Subsequent decades have seen the development of nuanced accounts of the state and this relationship as I discuss later, and indeed the development of a significant body of work on 'state feminism' where states are seen to act in a quasi-feminist manner (Mazur and Stetson, 1995, Outshoorn and Kantola, 2007, McBride and Mazur, 2010, which continues to evolve (for example, Kantola and Squires, 2012). Yet this has tended to focus on the level of national (or national comparisons) and policies and mechanisms for gender equality, as opposed to the actors involved in this, their working practices, or what takes place at regional or local level. ...
Gender equality work in local government carried out during the 1980s presents a valuable site to explore the interaction between professional and feminist working. In the history of the Women's Liberation Movement (WLM) and feminist organizing more broadly in the UK, professional working has often been positioned as antithetical to feminist working, and relatively little scholarship has examined the interface between the two. This article argues that the individuals involved should be considered ‘professional feminists’ as opposed to ‘femocrats’, drawing from across feminist, social movement and organizational theory, and interviews carried out in 2011 and archival texts from three UK councils. It also suggests their work (undertaken between the beginning of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s) serves to blur the boundaries usually marked between social movement and state. This contributes to the existing literature by exploring the specific understandings and practices put to work by those working on gender equality professionally, but not in an elected capacity, within local government, and how their work can be positioned in relation to feminist organizing more broadly.
... top-down) solutions aiming at reducing gender discriminations, especially at an early stage, on the long-term, the effects of their action may be precarious. Indeed political experiences have shown that when an external event reduces the influence of these isolated driver women, the situation can quickly deteriorate again (Outshoorn, 2005), aggravated by the suspicious look toward femocrats held by formerly dominant men or, paradoxically, even women, finding them too prone to compromise or too aggressive (Outshoorn and Kantola, 2007). It is thus important to devise strategies 'healing' network topology in depth, and in a bottom-up fashion, via pervasive education campaigns targeted to the deciders (Sainsbury, 1994), in our case chiefly the editors. ...
Peer review is the cornerstone of scholarly publishing and it is essential that peer reviewers are appointed on the basis of their expertise alone. However, it is difficult to check for any bias in the peer-review process because the identity of peer reviewers generally remains confidential. Here, using public information about the identities of 9000 editors and 43000 reviewers from the Frontiers series of journals, we show that women are underrepresented in the peer-review process, that editors of both genders operate with substantial same-gender preference (homophily), and that the mechanisms of this homophily are gender-dependent. We also show that homophily will persist even if numerical parity between genders is reached, highlighting the need for increased efforts to combat subtler forms of gender bias in scholarly publishing.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.21718.001
... Studi sociologici comparativi (Fornengo e Guadagnini 1999;Norris et al. 2004) hanno spiegato questo fenomeno facendo riferimento a un insieme di fattori di diversa natura: di tipo individuale; attinenti al contesto socioeconomico e culturale; legati alle specifiche modalità di selezione e reclutamento vigenti nei diversi sistemi politici. Alcuni studi hanno affrontato il tema della rappresentanza femminile in politica come rappresentazione descrittiva, analizzando il numero di donne nelle istituzioni legislative (Calloni e Cedroni 2012), ma soprattutto in termini di rappresentazione sostanziale, ponendo l'attenzione sui risultati politici delle donne e su come il genere può influenzare le politiche (Childs 2004;Childs e Withey 2004;McBride, Stetson e Mazur 1995;Outshoorn e Kantola 2007;Squires e Wickham-Jones 2004). Secondo alcuni studi, la rappresentanza politica femminile continua a essere minoritaria e nonostante abbia raggiunto una certa numerosità rispetto al passato non può ancora essere definita di sostanza, capace di innescare significativi processi di trasformazione nella cultura politica (Celis e Childs 2014;Celis et al. 2008). ...
The gender gap in politics has been explained as being due to individual, social, economical and cultural determinants. This research, based on eleven biographical interviews to women and men involved in politics, is aimed at investigating participants' explanations of women's underrepresentation in politics, with particular attention to the mechanisms of construction and preservation of gender inequalities. Participants' discourses were categorized into four thematic areas: women's lack of interest towards politics; the unequal distribution of family work; the difficulties of integration into a masculine and sexist context; the cultural processes of gender roles construction. Results highlighted the need to disclose discourses that construct politics as a Male institutional context, as well as the need to identify the key factors that may contribute to plan cultural interventions that promote gender equality in politics.
... Studi sociologici comparativi (Fornengo e Guadagnini 1999;Norris et al. 2004) hanno spiegato questo fenomeno facendo riferimento a un insieme di fattori di diversa natura: di tipo individuale; attinenti al contesto socioeconomico e culturale; legati alle specifiche modalità di selezione e reclutamento vigenti nei diversi sistemi politici. Alcuni studi hanno affrontato il tema della rappresentanza femminile in politica come rappresentazione descrittiva, analizzando il numero di donne nelle istituzioni legislative (Calloni e Cedroni 2012), ma soprattutto in termini di rappresentazione sostanziale, ponendo l'attenzione sui risultati politici delle donne e su come il genere può influenzare le politiche (Childs 2004;Childs e Withey 2004;McBride, Stetson e Mazur 1995;Outshoorn e Kantola 2007;Squires e Wickham-Jones 2004). Secondo alcuni studi, la rappresentanza politica femminile continua a essere minoritaria e nonostante abbia raggiunto una certa numerosità rispetto al passato non può ancora essere definita di sostanza, capace di innescare significativi processi di trasformazione nella cultura politica (Celis e Childs 2014;Celis et al. 2008). ...
Nonostante le profonde trasformazioni sociali e culturali che hanno investito i ruoli di genere e le conquiste femminili realizzate nell’ultimo secolo per le donne è ancora molto difficile occupare posizioni apicali in territori da sempre ritenuti maschili, fortemente competitivi e ad alta composizione gerarchica, primi fra tutti la politica e le Amministrazioni dello Stato. Nonostante un aumento del numero di donne elette nelle istituzioni politiche italiane, tale numero diminuisce quando si sale nella gerarchia del potere.
Questo studio e si propone di offrire un contributo teorico ed empirico in un campo di indagine ancora giovane ed esplorato in modo non del tutto soddisfacente, ponendo il focus sul ruolo che la dimensione del genere ha nello spiegare il gender gap in politica e in particolare sui meccanismi di costruzione di significati connessi al fare genere in politica. La cornice teorica di riferimento è la prospettiva socio-costruzionista, che considera il genere nel suo valore simbolico e performativo e i contenuti dei ruoli di genere come prodotti di processi di negoziazione continua. Inoltre, lo studio si colloca nell’ambito della psicologia discorsiva che considera il ruolo delle narrazioni essenziale per attribuire significati all’esperienza. Secondo questa prospettiva tutte le giustificazioni che le persone adottano per spiegare la realtà sociale traggono origine dalle argomentazioni disponibili e circolanti nel contesto sociale.
A partire da questi presupposti teorici e metodologici, lo studio si propone di analizzare i discorsi prodotti da un gruppo di uomini e di donne impegnati in politica per conoscere le giustificazioni che queste persone adottano per spiegare la scarsa partecipazione delle donne alla politica. I risultati mostrano che gli uomini e le donne intervistati utilizzano argomentazioni differenti e spesso contraddittorie per spiegare la persistenza del divario di genere in politica facendo riferimento alla volontaria astensione delle donne dalla politica piuttosto che ai rapporti di potere sbilanciati tra i generi nella nostra società. Il contributo di questo lavoro consiste nel mettere in luce i discorsi che portano ancora oggi a considerare la politica come un contesto prevalentemente maschile al fine di individuare i fattori chiave a partire dai quali progettare interventi volti a favorire una partecipazione più egualitaria di donne e uomini alla vita politica del paese.
... According to Outshoorn and Kantola (2007), the trend of regionalisation has also implied more market-oriented policy processes, where privatisation and commercialisation is enforced in order to sustain and increase economic growth in companies, regions and countries. Growth has thus, according to them, come to constitute a dominating discourse in regional development policies, benefiting commercially oriented actors and perspectives over socially oriented ones. ...
This article explores how social innovation on the regional, sub-national, level helps pinpoint socially inclusive change for smart, inclusive and sustainable growth in European regional development policy. The article presents and analyzes new and unique data on regional social innovation from northern Sweden, where a participatory research approach was used to develop new theoretical and practical knowledge in cooperation between researchers and concerned societal actors. The study exposes that the studied examples pinpoint crucial elements by acknowledging the relevance of power-related dimensions such as gender, ethnicity, class, sexuality, rurality etc. when distinguishing societal challenges, social needs and social improvements, the relevance of civil society engagement when developing new solutions, the importance of interaction across personal, organizational, sectoral and spatial boundaries, and the importance of highlighting and challenging power-relations that ascribe higher status to a limited range of groups, organizations, sectors, perspectives and innovation forms.
... One era making its mark on the definition of gender equality and its objectives has been the European Union (EU) policy-making period: a time marked by the emergence of new forms of governance (Outshoorn & Kantola 2007). The Nordic countries constitute a special forum for equality policies within the EU. ...
This article concerns gender equality work, that is, those educational and workplace activities that involve the promotion of gender equality. It is based on research conducted in Sweden and Finland, and focuses on the period during which the public sector has become more market-oriented and project-based all over the Nordic countries. The consequences of this development on gender equality work have not yet been thoroughly analysed. Our joint empirical analysis is based on discourse-analytic methodology and two previous empirical studies. By analysing interviews conducted with people involved in gender equality work, this article emphasises the effects of market-oriented and project-based gender equality work in education and working life in Sweden and in Finland. The findings highlight an alliance between projectisation and heteronormativity that acts to regulate how gender equality ought to be talked about in order for its issues to be heard. A persistently constructed 'remedy' to 'the gender equality problem' is that girls and women are positioned as 'needing' to change more than boys and men, by adopting more traditionally 'masculine manners' and choosing to work in more 'masculine sectors'. The findings also show that the constitutive forces of these discourses provide little leeway for critical perspectives.
Although there is no article in the national legislation in Türkiye that restricts women’s political rights, it is seen that the participation
7 of women in decision-making mechanisms in the public sphere, both at the national and local level, is quite limited. According to
8 the 2022 data from the World Economic Forum (WEF), Türkiye ranks 124th among 146 countries in the Gender Equality
9 Ranking and 112th in the political empowerment ranking. “The European Charter for Equality of Women and Men in Local
10 Life” was prepared in 2006 by the European Council of Municipalities and Regions (CEMR). This document is among the
11 activities carried out under governance, democracy, and citizenship. It encourages local and regional governments to make a public
12 commitment to achieving gender equality and implement the principles in the Charter. This specification, supported by the Union of
13 Municipalities of Türkiye, has been signed by 31 municipalities in Turkey. Later, when the Istanbul Convention was withdrawn,
14 the activities were slowed down, and the applications of the municipalities that signed and wanted to sign later were suspended. With
15 a project carried out by the Association for Supporting Women Candidates, 17 new municipalities have signed terms, and then
16 training has been given to promote gender equality. The organized capacity-building activities were evaluated under three main
17 headings: relevance, effectiveness and sustainability. The most important commitment of the 17 signatories in terms of ensuring
18 sustainability is to prepare the Local Action Equality Plan within two years. This study evaluates the steps taken by the pilot
19 municipalities involved in the project to prepare the Local Equality Action Plan due to the capacity-building training that lasted for
20 one year. A survey study and interviews with municipalities were carried out as a method. The participation of municipalities from
21 different regions in the research revealed the importance of regional differences in promoting gender mainstreaming.
Tunisia merupakan salah satu negara Arab yang dilanda pergolakan politik di era Arab Spring. Negara ini dianggap berhasil melalui transisi politik dari otoritarianisme ke demokrasi dengan relatif stabil. Dalam proses ini, kaum perempuan Tunisia memiliki peran yang signifikan. Tulisan ini bertujuan untuk mendeskripsikan gerakan feminisme, yang dipelopori baik oleh negara maupun perempuan, berperan penting terhadap konstelasi politik Tunisia. Para perempuan Tunisia memiliki peran penting dalam mengajak dan memobilisasi massa ketika meletusnya Arab Spring. Pasca-Arab Spring, mereka terlibat dengan efektif dalam proses politik, termasuk dalam penyusunan undang-undang di parlemen. UU yang diratifikasi tahun 2014 dipandang lebih menjamin keadilan gender. Penelitian ini dilakukan dengan metode kualitatif yang memanfaatkan studi literatur dan mengimplementasikan konsep state feminism. Hasil penelitian ini menyimpulkan bahwa state feminism telah mengubah pola sistem politik menjadi lebih mengakomodasi kepentingan dan hak-hak perempuan, serta mengupayakan terciptanya keadilan gender di Tunisia.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits adaptation, alteration, reproduction and distribution for non-commercial use, without further permission provided the original work is attributed. The derivative works do not need to be licensed on the same terms. This article interrogates the digital storytelling of Sweden's feminist foreign policy. Drawing on scholarship on state feminism and digital diplomacy, it shows how digital platforms offer opportunities to reproduce narratives of state feminism through storytelling. We propose that digital diplomacy is used to advance feminist foreign policy through emotional sense-making that requires the telling of personal stories. The article provides a narrative analysis of the stories of women and girls that symbolise and embody feminist foreign policy, and the way in which they are communicated by the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The article concludes by noting that the digital storytelling of feminist foreign policy allows the Ministry for Foreign Affairs to communicate to a wider digital audience. These stories, however, run the risk of obscuring the feminist ambitions of feminist foreign policy by insufficiently considering the gendered injustices that undergird the global gender order and by bringing together seemingly incompatible stories of feminist exceptionalism and success.
This volume explores the processes of investigating cultures of equality and sets out an epistemological framework for generating a more just and response-able knowledge. It offers a tapestry of inventive, self-reflexive, collective, and situated praxis of conducting politically informed research. Such efforts contest—or occasionally reinvent—the social and cultural worlds that we currently inhabit, in an attempt at building cultures of equality across different locations and contexts. The book engages with the idea of producing knowledge "with" others, indicating the political potential of scientific practice and offering a view of knowledge as a collective affective-intellectual effort. It provides an inventory of creative engagements with concepts and methodologies enabling production of socially responsible knowledges. By critically exploring new possibilities of scientific inquiry, the contributors reflect on "how" knowledge can be generated to serve the political agenda of movements for equality and social justice. The chapters also elucidate different conceptualisations of and approaches to "who" the researcher is and how they interact with cultural and social worlds.
This paper examines gender mainstreaming in the European Union development policy to Tunisia. The main objective of this paper is to analyse the way in which Gender Mainstreaming is included in the European Union Development polity in a strategic country such as Tunisia. In doing this, I will examine to which extent the Gender Mainstreaming integration is genuinely achieving its aim of transforming unequal gender relations. The first section of the paper develops the theoretical frame. The second section explains the research methodology. The third section explains the research results showing how the European Union has overlooked a unique opportunity that would has given the chance to integrate Gender Mainstreaming in the post-revolution European Union development policy, into the national public policies and lastly, in establishing a more inclusive dialogue with an embryonic civil society and mature feminist movement. The paper concludes with the hope that this study will serve to guide and promote, in first place, a real integration of a transformative gender mainstreaming in the EU development policy and in second place, to boost the EU role as promoter of possible national reforms which will enable the implementation of transformative gender mainstreaming in national policies breaking once for all with the artificial neutrality of public policies.
Este artículo trata el tema del Feminismo Institucional a nivel municipal a partir de la conformación de la primera Concejalía de Promoción de la Igualdad y Empleo del Ayuntamiento de Madrid en el año de 1999. El análisis se basa en la literatura sobre el tema y en una revisión histórica del proceso mediante entrevistas cualitativas y revisión documental. Después de dos décadas de la creación de la primera concejalía de igualdad del Ayuntamiento de Madrid, hay pocos estudios hechos relacionados con este acontecimiento. Con el objetivo de ampliar el conocimiento referente al Feminismo Institucional a nivel municipal, el presente artículo pretende identificar las condiciones que facilitaron la creación de la primera estructura de política de igualdad del Ayuntamiento de Madrid, enfocando la atención en los actores que formaron parte del proceso. Se concluye que los factores más influyentes que permitieron la configuración del Feminismo Institucional en el Ayuntamiento de Madrid fueron: la presencia de actores críticos como el movimiento feminista, el apoyo de partidos políticos de izquierda dentro del gobierno y la influencia de las políticas internacionales y europeas. La presencia de estos actores impulsó la introducción de objetivos feministas en la política municipal de igualdad que dio como resultado la creación del Consejo de Mujeres de la ciudad y de la figura de agentes de igualdad, dos actores que en alianza promovieron el Feminismo Institucional en el Ayuntamiento de Madrid.
This chapter introduces a transnational view on vigilance by examining the ambiguous politics of state feminism in the Global South and its neoliberal connectivities. Referring specifically to Ghanaian “feminist” histories and the problematic gendered rhetorics of a former minister of state in charge of the state gender machinery, the chapter argues for a vigilant feminist critique that not only comprehensively deconstructs the contradictions of state feminism but also envisions new discursive infrastructures for building a more democratic future. Besides its transdisciplinary decolonial discursive praxis, a vigilant feminist critique emphasizes a cosmopolitics of critique for explaining the transnational manifestations of state feminism and privileges the Global South as a critical standpoint from which to envision a new politics of vigilance.
The chapter analyses the shifting relationship between feminist politics and the state in Finland in the 2010s, with the aim of providing new insights into this relationship in a changing political context. The chapter focuses on a particular form of neoliberal and managerial governance that aims to make government decision-making processes more strategic by narrowing down policy objectives and aligning them explicitly with fiscal objectives that have moved the Finnish welfare state in the direction of becoming a strategic state, in which economic imperatives overrule other political concerns. The chapter asks: (i) How do different feminist actors operate in the strategic state? and (ii) How are gender issues politicised in the strategic state by different feminist actors? The chapter approaches these questions through three different conceptualisations of feminist politics in Finland, namely, the idea of the velvet triangle, governance feminism, and intersectional feminism. The chapter shows how the network model of the velvet triangle is challenged in the context of the strategic state, while both governance feminism and intersectional feminism are strengthened.
İkinci dalga feminist hareketle birlikte “devlet feminizmi” kavramı ortaya çıkmış ve toplumsal cinsiyet eşitliğinin sağlanmasında devletlerin temel aktörlerden biri olduğu ve bu eşitliği hayata geçirmek için uygulamaları gereken politikalar gündeme gelmiştir. Dünyanın çeşitli ülkelerinde bu konuda kullanılan araçlardan biri de ayrımcılıkla ilgili şikayetleri inceleyen özel bir ombudsmanın kurulması olmuştur. Oldukça yakın bir tarihte kurulan Türkiye’deki Kamu Denetçiliği Kurumu da (Ombudsman) toplumsal cinsiyete duyarlı politikaların oluşturulması açısından önem taşımaktadır. Bu çalışmanın amacı, Kamu Denetçiliği Kurumunun verdiği kararlardan yola çıkarak Kurumun, kamu yönetiminde toplumsal cinsiyet eşitliğine duyarlı politikalar üretilmesine ne gibi katkılar sağladığını değerlendirmektir. Çalışmada içerik analizi yöntemi kullanılarak Kamu Denetçiliği Kurumunun 2014-2019 yılları arasında yayınladığı yıllık raporlar incelenmiştir. Yapılan araştırmada, Kuruma kadın hakları ile ilgili yapılan şikayet başvurularının nicelik itibariyle oldukça düşük düzeyde kaldığı görülmüştür. Ancak Kurumun kadın hakları ile ilgili verdiği kararların içeriği incelendiğinde bu kararların, toplumsal cinsiyete duyarlı politikalar üretilmesine katkı sağlar nitelikte olduğu sonucuna ulaşılmıştır.
Throughout the historical kaleidoscope of Pakistan politics, it is
evident that women role has not been substantial irrespective of
their population size. This article highlights the historical
political situation of women role along with challenges and
opportunities in their participation and representation in
Pakistan’s politics. It is evident that their decreased descriptive
participation reciprocated into lower substantive contribution in
the Pakistan politics. The voting turnout used to be lower as
compare to the male counterpart during all the elections in
Pakistan. Through qualitative investigation and the data of the
elections, it is observed that the situation is gradually
transforming in the 21st century and it is improved as compare
to the earlier status. The patriarchal society, poverty, religious
dogma etc, are the main stumbling blocks towards women
political emancipation. Increased educational status, economic
wellbeing and enhanced role in decision making bodies will
serve as an antidote to all the issues
Gender justice and equality have risen to prominence in the constitution of foreign and security policy. This article locates the analysis of feminist foreign policy (FFP) within the wider context of Sweden's state feminist tradition as well as its pursuit of “gender cosmopolitanism” in global politics. Both “gender cosmopolitanism” and Sweden's state feminist tradition provided fertile ground for the formal adoption of FFP in 2014. The article employs poststructural discursive techniques that enable the identification of the statist feminist and cosmopolitan foundations of feminist foreign policy. More specifically, the article provides a discursive analysis of the ethical and feminist ambitions, normative contents, and pitfalls of FFP. Though FFP is grounded in other-regarding cosmopolitan care for vulnerable women and girls beyond borders, it exhibits a range of pitfalls and inconsistencies, such as equating gender with women and, at times, privileging results-oriented strategies over thoroughgoing gender analysis of structural injustices such as gendered violence. The article ends with a discussion of Sweden's attempts to translate the feminist and cosmopolitan contents of FFP commitments into policy practice, with a focus on the eradication of gender-based violence.
In recent years, the numbers of refugees and migrants moving across borders has been unprecedented, with more than 68.5 million people around the world leaving their countries as a result of persecution, conflict, violence, or human rights violations. Their journeys are perilous, crossing dangerous waters, often leading to death of family members. Upon arrival in Europe they continue to struggle, often living in detention-like conditions, unable to access basic protection and being vulnerable to traffickers. Most European governments offer emergency relief, without a common framework for legal protection or a clear vision of what statutory social services should provide. Like many other European countries, in the UK, designated social services are also limited and formal efforts to support refugees arriving in the UK remain uncoordinated, mostly provided by volunteers and non-governmental organisations. Drawing on the theoretical framework of social movements, this article offers a critique to current social work practices for refugees in the UK. Using the case of resettlement policies, it argues that sustainable social services to protect this vulnerable group could develop through the political opportunity structures created by non-governmental organisations. It concludes that community mobilisation can influence social work practice to better support the refugees.
In recent years Russian political discourse and legislative practice have been characterised by open hostility towards gender equality, feminism and women’s rights while laws restricting abortion, LGBTQ-rights and NGOs activities have been adopted. This turn is quite unexpected given previous developments in Russia with respect to gender equality and transnational cooperation around women’s rights. The chapter reviews aspects of the politics of cooperation around gender equality in Russia in light of social and political changes since 1991. It focuses on the cooperation around gender equality between the Nordic countries and the Northwestern region of Russia. The chapter adopts a situational approach and explores how gender equality norms have been interpreted, applied and transformed by different actors involved in the cooperation.
Territorial debates have recently shaken the political systems in Scotland and Catalonia, leading to referenda on independence. This article engages with questions concerning whether this extraordinary process has affected the women's movement and why. Specifically, feminist scholars have often expressed concern regarding how strong territorial identities and nationalist projects might prove detrimental to the movement's unity and success. Here, I look for indications of engagement and revival within the frames of the Scottish and Catalan referendum campaigns. A comparative approach revealed the mobilizing potential of these contexts when certain conditions were present. While the women's movement in Scotland has thrived in the last couple of years, territorial debates in Catalonia have not provided fertile ground for feminist campaigning and have shown divisive potential. The specific dynamics of the women's movement in each setting and the presence of political and discursive opportunity structures account for the different outcomes.
Conservative political actors appear rather troubling for many gender and politics scholars and feminist activists. What should we make of their claims to represent women? How should we best understand their actions? This article, based on a critical rereading of the empirical literature and informed by contemporary representation theory, develops a new conceptual framework for assessing the quality of women's substantive representation by conservatives. We find that under specified conditions, conservative representatives do further women's substantive representation. A first set of conditions relates to conservative claims to represent women. These are considered to be “for women” when they marry conservative women's concerns in society; when conservative representatives act and do not simply engage in rhetoric; and when their actions are not undercut by other acts, policies, or outcomes unfavorable to women. A second set of criteria considers the quality of the process of women's substantive representation. We contend that a feminist process of deliberation about women's interests can include conservative claims as long as they meet the requirements of responsiveness, inclusiveness, and egalitarianism.
The text explores what light the gender/federalism literature sheds on territorial politics. In particular, it shows that feminist political science has been influenced by political science generally to avoid consideration of territorial politics, except for feminist scholars focused on women's movements aligned with nationalist movements or governments, especially regional governments in federations.
Social movement activists are highly interested in incorporating experiences of
their forerunners into their own strategic considerations and decisions. They
examine whether previously implemented strategies have been successful or
not and seek to understand why social movements have succeeded or failed to
result in change. In this regard, the context in which social movements emerge
and operate must be considered. As well, activists must determine whether
countermovements exist and, if so, what strategies the latter have
implemented that may thwart or further their own goals. This article discusses
these issues by analyzing the interaction between the social movements for and
against gender equality, using the example of the struggle between the
women’s rights movement and its countermovements to establish or remove
Offices for Gender Equality (OGEs) in Switzerland. Based on the results of a
Coincidence Analysis (CNA), it is shown how this conflict has shaped the
political balance of power in Switzerland, and, in turn, how political structures
and processes have been modified. The implications of our findings for social
movements are discussed.
It is no secret that men and women continue to have unequal access in democratic systems. In nearly every country for which data exist, women participate less in politics and hold fewer government positions than men (Beauregard 2014). In recent years, analysis of this ongoing problem has taken an institutional turn: feminist institutionalism examines how the formal and informal “rules of the game” create persistent bias against women in office and the advancement of feminist policy agendas (e.g., Krook and Mackay 2011). Such analysis is important and enlightening, but it illuminates only part of the story. An ongoing problem in most democracies is women's lower level of participation: women are less interested in politics, less likely to be active in campaigning, and less likely to contact officials. While women often vote at the same rate as men, their lower rates of political engagement and higher-intensity forms of participation remains to be explained (Coffe and Bolzendahl 2011; Verba, Burns, and Schlozman 1997).
ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any references for this publication.