This book breaks new ground in gender and politics research by studying the multiple ways in which gender and intersectional equalities shape and are shaped by social partners representing employers and employees in Europe, as well as the relationships between those social partners. Little critical attention has been paid to these organizations, yet, as this volume illustrates, social partners are important actors in relation to gender and other inequalities at the level of both individual European countries and the European Union. The chapters in this volume explore the impact of social partners on (in)equalities in a variety of 21st-century political contexts, taking into account phenomena such as neoliberalisation, austerity, and the COVID-19 crisis. This volume adds a crucial dimension to studies on gender inequalities in the labour market, contributing to research on issues such as domestic work, the gender pay gap, and the persistent undervaluation of women’s labour and feminized reproductive labour, in particular care work. It also represents a significant contribution to the literature on gender equality policy. The book’s focus on social partners provides important insights that help to explain the persistence of gender inequalities and the difficulties of adopting and implementing policies to combat them. This volume should appeal to students and researchers of gender studies, politics, European politics, employment relations, and international relations, as well as to policymakers engaged in addressing gender inequalities in the labour market.

This edited collection draws on and expands the findings from a pan-European research project undertaken during 2012-13 which was funded by the European Institute for Gender Equality and aimed to explore three key issues in relation to gender and media: women’s inclusion in decision-making positions within media industries; how women are represented in the media; and what policies and mechanisms are in place to support women’s career development and promote gender equality. The research looked at 99 major media organisations across the EU including public and private sector broadcasters (TV and radio) as well as a number of major newspaper groups. Researchers also monitored TV programmes (factual only but including entertainment genres) across one week and coded 1200 hours of TV. In addition to elaborating the results from 16 of the participating nations, the collection includes a set of context-setting essays and a summarizing conclusion as well as a reflection on the purpose and utility of gender indicators. It is the first major work to look across the European media landscape and explore both employment and representation, providing a unique glimpse into the contemporary media scene in relation to gender equality, including examples of good and less good practice.

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.

This book offers a comprehensive and in-depth overview of how public policy is shaping gender equality in Europe.

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 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.

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.