Overview
- Covers a modern period of EU gender equality policy that has not been full addressed previously
- Bridges disciplines by adopting a sociological approach to a research question on EU policy-making
- Applies a multi-methodological approach by analyzing expert interviews, conducting a broad documentary analysis and complementing the former with qualitative network analysis
Part of the book series: Gender and Politics (GAP)
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About this book
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.
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Keywords
- European integration
- policy networks in the EU
- feminism and the EU
- European Parliament and gender
- European Commission and gender
- women's movements and the EU
- intersectionality
- public administration in the EU
- soft law in the EU
- EU policy analysis
- gender mainstreaming
- NGOs and gender
- EU Gender Equality Programs
- EU institutions and gender
- european union politics
Table of contents (6 chapters)
Reviews
“Ahrens engenders Giddens’ structuration theory and applies it to an analysis of EU gender policy to explain dramatic change. While the EU previously appeared as a progressive gender regime, the unexpected rollback in the fifth phaseis characterised by a switch ‘from hard to soft law’ and recently to ‘softened soft law’. By combining sociological with political approaches, Ahrens identifies changing actor behaviour in relation to the ‘Roadmap 2006-2010’. She draws an insightful picture of ‘normalisation’ and ‘de-politicisation’ of EU internal policy-making that is simultaneously most fascinating for EU policy analysts and very sobering for gender activists.” – Professor Gabriele Abels, University of Tübingen, Germany
“Ahrens’ comprehensive text merges sociological and political science approaches to analyse the EU’s 2006-2010 Roadmap for Equality and the changes that this policy brought to the overall structure of gender equality policy in the EU. One of the strengths of the text is the attention that Ahrens pays to the interplay between structures and agents, in which she considers both vertical and horizontal processes, and draws out hidden processes at work in the EU’s gender policy. The findings are important to furthering our understanding of gender equality in the EU and the importance of specific actors in a complex and supranational system.” – Professor Heather MacRae, York University, CanadaAuthors and Affiliations
About the author
Petra Ahrens is Marie-Skłodowska-Curie Fellow at the University of Antwerp, Belgium. Her research focuses on European integration, gender equality policies, public policy and transnational civil society organisations.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Actors, Institutions, and the Making of EU Gender Equality Programs
Authors: Petra Ahrens
Series Title: Gender and Politics
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57060-4
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan London
eBook Packages: Political Science and International Studies, Political Science and International Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-137-57059-8Published: 17 November 2017
eBook ISBN: 978-1-137-57060-4Published: 08 November 2017
Series ISSN: 2662-5814
Series E-ISSN: 2662-5822
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XV, 305
Number of Illustrations: 11 b/w illustrations
Topics: European Union Politics, Public Policy, Gender Studies