Using the EU to Promote Gender Equality Policy in a Traditional Context: Reconciliation of Work and Family Life in Italy

2012 ◽  
pp. 99-120
Author(s):  
Alessia Donà
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equality ◽  
Family Life ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Promote Gender Equality ◽  
Gender Equality Policy ◽  
The Eu

Policy Discourses on ‘Reconciling Work and Life’ in the EU

2002 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 305-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Duncan
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equality ◽  
Family Life ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Gender Mainstreaming ◽  
Paid Work ◽  
Economic Competition ◽  
Gender Policy ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Work And Life

This paper outlines the development EU policy discourse on ‘the reconciliation of work and family life’. This imposes a policy disjuncture on New Labour, for, while the British government may be ideologically more attracted to the liberal US model of ‘flexible’ labour, it is bound by EU law to implement a more corporatist gender equality model. The paper notes how themes of economic competition, democratisation, and protecting gender contracts emerged at the foundation EU gender policy. It traces these themes into an ‘equal opportunities at work’ discourse during the 1970s and 1980s and, with the increasing importance of the ‘demographic time bomb’ discourse and of Scandinavian style gender equality, into discourses stressing the ‘reconciliation of paid work with family life’ and gender mainstreaming. The paper ends by addressing the ‘half-empty or half-full’ assessments of EU gender policy.

Equality and diversity: a new approach to gender equality policy in the UK

2007 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dalia Ben-Galim ◽  
Mary Campbell ◽  
Jane Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equality ◽  
Race And Ethnicity ◽  
Paper Briefly ◽  
Policy Documents ◽  
New Approach ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Gender Equality Policy ◽  
Equality And Diversity ◽  
The Eu

In 2007 the UK established a new single equalities body, to bring together the existing equality Commissions dealing with gender, disability, and race and ethnicity into a Commission for Equality and Human Rights. The promotion and enforcement of ‘equality and diversity’ is one of the three duties of the new body. This paper briefly explores diversity in relation to the theory of gender equality and also examines developments in policy at the EU level, which has provided much of the impetus for change. Our focus is on the policy approach and the tensions that the policy documents reveal about the emphasis on equality and diversity approach, in particular the extent to which attention to gender issues may get lost in the diversity bundle, and the extent to which a focus on the individual may be strengthened over the group.

Economization of Expert Knowledge about Gender Equality in the European Union

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Elomäki
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Expert Knowledge ◽  
Economic Impacts ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Increasing Demand ◽  
Gender Equality Policy ◽  
The Eu

Abstract The article analyzes (i) how the increasing demand for empirical evidence about the economic impacts of gender equality transforms expert knowledge about gender equality in the European Union (EU) and (ii) the implications of these transformations. The article argues that the much-debated discursive economization of gender equality in the EU context is underpinned by the economization of expert knowledge about gender equality—the increasing reliance on mainstream economics to support gender equality claims. This has increased the influence of gender-biased economics knowledge and its modes of knowledge production in EU gender equality policy.

Women, Work and Industrial Relations in 2009

2010 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 355-369 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marian Baird ◽  
Sue Williamson
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Parental Leave ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Senior Management ◽  
Gender Justice ◽  
Pay Equity ◽  
Promote Gender Equality ◽  
Paid Parental Leave

The interplay between women’s work and family lives and public and business policies attracted considerable attention during 2009. In this review we focus on Australia’s new paid parental leave scheme, pay equity, award modernization and the lack of women in senior management and on boards. We conclude that ‘economic efficiency’ arguments to promote gender equality in the workplace became stronger during the year, sometimes displacing gender justice arguments. We also suggest that 2009 was a year of policy wins and losses for women at work and that 2010 will see more attention to gender equitable policies as political parties seek to win the ‘women’s vote’.

This Far, but No Further?

2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 362-379 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Spehar
Keyword(s):  
Political Culture ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Women And Gender ◽  
Gender Policy ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Gender Equality Policy ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Strong Contrast

The European Union (EU) is one of the world’s most important policy promoters for gender equality. This article examines the benefits and limitations of EU gender equality policy making in two Western Balkan countries, Croatia and FYR Macedonia. Besides analyzing specific gender policy developments that can be attributed to the EU, particular focus is put on the women’s movement activists’ perceptions of the impact that accession may have on women and gender equality. The study demonstrates that while the Croatian and Macedonian EU accession processes have been beneficial to the introduction of new gender legislation and institutional mechanisms for the advancement of gender equality, the EU gender strategy has also shown serious limitations. Among these—and perhaps the most fundamental—is the strong contrast between stated goals and their actual implementation. I argue that unless profound institutional changes as well as changes in political culture take place in Croatia and Macedonia, the poor compliance with EU gender equality norms and policies will be hard to overcome.

Top managers and the gendered interplay of organizations and family life: the case of Iceland

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (8) ◽  
pp. 602-622 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ólöf Júlíusdóttir ◽  
Guðbjörg Linda Rafnsdóttir ◽  
Þorgerður Einarsdóttir
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equality ◽  
Family Life ◽  
Family Relations ◽  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Working Hours ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Organizational Practices ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Business Leadership ◽  
Content Type

PurposeIceland, along with the other Nordic countries, is seen as an international frontrunner in gender equality and equal sharing of responsibility for paid and unpaid work is part of the official ideology. Nevertheless, the number of women in leadership positions remains low. The purpose of this study is to analyse the practices that (re)produce power imbalances between women and men in business leadership both at the macro and the micro levels. This is done by using two theoretical explanations: gendered organizational practices and the interplay of organizations and family life.Design/methodology/approachThe mixed methods are applied by analysing 51, semi-structured interviews with female and male business leaders and survey data from CEOs and executives from the 250 largest companies in Iceland.FindingsThe analyses reveal gender differences and asymmetries in work life as well as within the family. Men have longer working hours than women, higher salaries and more job-related travelling. Women carry the dual burden of work and family to a higher degree than do men. By questioning and attempting to resist the organizational culture women risk further disadvantage. The situation of male and female leaders is therefore incomparable. This is a paradox and does not fit with the idea of the Nordic gender equality of a dual breadwinner society.Originality/valueIt is shown that lack of gender diversity in business leadership is based on gendered organizational practices as well as on power relations within families. These two aspects are mutually reinforcing and the originality of the study is to explore the interplay between them. The authors conclude that despite being the country at the forefront of gender equality in the world, neither organizational practices nor family relations recognize the different life experiences of women and men in Iceland. This is expressed in organizational practices and different access to time and support, which may hinder gaining gender equality in top leadership.

scholarly journals Work and Family Life Reconciliation Policies in Turkey: Europeanisation or Ottomanisation?

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 36
Author(s):  
Nazlı Kazanoğlu
Keyword(s):  
Family Life ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Candidate Country ◽  
Specific Policy ◽  
Civil Society Organisations ◽  
Turkish Government ◽  
Legislative Amendments ◽  
Legislative Changes ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Reconciliation Policies

This paper is an endeavour to explore and explain the Europeanisation patterns of gender equality in a longstanding candidate country, Turkey, with regard to the specific policy areas of work and family life reconciliation over the last two decades. To achieve this goal, this paper has utilised a combination of literature review, document analysis and 43 semi-structured in-depth interviews with European Union (EU) officials, representatives of social partners and international women’s organisations, as well as Turkish political elites and representatives of civil society organisations. The collected data have been analysed through the thematic analysis research method. Relying on an extensive review of the related literature and policy documents together with the data collected, this paper contends that the process of Europeanising Turkish work and family life reconciliation policies has remained contradictory, incomplete and patchy. Although the Turkish government has made various legislative changes in response to the adaptational pressure coming from the EU, a closer examination of those legislative amendments indicates a continued disconnect between Turkey and the EU in the specific policy area of work and family life reconciliation.

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