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The Gender Politics of the EU

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Interdisziplinäre Europastudien

Abstract

Examining developments in the study and practice of gender politics over 60 years of European integration, this chapter explores progress and paradoxes in EU institutional developments surrounding gender, surveys new studies of the gender dimensions in European integration, and draws together the key insights from EU gender policy studies. Examining institutional changes through a gender lens highlights reforms with ambiguous effects. Indeed institutional changes have increased women's representation in key institutions and changes in decision-making dynamics in EU institutions. At times, however, attempts to streamline, formalize, and make more transparent procedures in these same institutions have made them more exclusionary. A survey of recent feminist scholarship highlights that gender approaches have much to contribute to mainstream theories of European integration. Indeed, this survey reveals gender dimensions in interest group mobilization and in the interplay between national and EU-level gender policy, all of which might help add needed depth to existing integration theories. Likewise, a survey of policy studies underscores that while the effects of the supranationalisation of gender equality policies have been significant, progress varies substantially between Member States and policy areas. This chapter concludes that while gender policy advocates and gender scholars clearly have much to offer, advocates must rely upon coalition building and clever issue-framing, while scholars will only succeed if there is a meaningful dialogue between gendered approaches and mainstream integration theory.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Several blind men approached an elephant and each touched the animal in an effort to discover what the beast looked like. Each blind man, however, touched a different part of the large animal, and each concluded that the elephant had the appearance of the part he had touched. Hence, the blind man who felt the animal’s trunk concluded that an elephant must be tall and slender, while his fellow who touched the beast’s ear concluded that an elephant must be oblong and flat. Others of course reached different conclusions. The total result was that no man arrived at a very accurate description of the elephant. Yet, each man had gained enough evidence from his own experience to disbelieve his fellows and to maintain a lively debate about the nature of the beast. Puchala 1971, p 267

  2. 2.

    Gender mainstreaming systematically assesses the implications of any planned action to ensure that all policies contribute to gender equality. Starting with the policy planning stage and proceeding through the policy cycle, the aim is to evaluate policy effects in all policy areas by using a gender perspective. To implement mainstreaming, actors have developed different policy instruments, including gender equality indicators, ways to gender test policy proposals through impact assessment procedures and gender budgeting.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Science, University of Missouri-St. Louis, One University Boulevard, MO 63121-4400, St. Louis, USA

    Prof. Dr. Joyce M. Mushaben

  2. Institut für Politikwissenschaften, Abt. Innen- und EU-Politik, Universität Tübingen, Melanchthonstraße 36, 72074, Tübingen, Deutschland

    Prof. Dr. Gabriele Abels

Authors
  1. Prof. Dr. Joyce M. Mushaben
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  2. Prof. Dr. Gabriele Abels
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Correspondence to Joyce M. Mushaben .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Universität Bremen, Bremen, Germany

    Ulrike Liebert

  2. Jean Monnet Centre for European Studies, Universität Bremen, Bremen, Germany

    Janna Wolff

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Mushaben, J., Abels, G. (2015). The Gender Politics of the EU. In: Liebert, U., Wolff, J. (eds) Interdisziplinäre Europastudien. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-03620-1_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-03620-1_15

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