Quelle: European Journal of Politics and Gender, (2022) , S 1–17
Inhalt: The aim of this article is to provide empirical insights into the process of building solidarity. I focus on the way in which feminist movements are funded and discuss the question of the structural conditions for building feminist solidarities within movements that already display different hierarchies of income, visibility and recognition. My key message is that feminist solidarities are more easily produced if feminist movements challenge traditional alliances of money, expertise and power, and thus propose an alternative to ‘NGO-isation’. I outline the particular practices of participatory grant-making of the Polish Feminist Fund and argue that such organisation practices may foster greater solidarities across different identities, issues and locations, and result in the more politically oriented redistribution of funds to those who are in most pressing need of support.
Contested gender mainstreaming in the European Parliament: political groups and committees as gatekeepers
Autor/in:
Elomäki, Anna; Ahrens, Petra
Quelle: European Journal of Politics and Gender, 5 (2022) 3, S 322–340
Inhalt: This article analyses the implementation of gender mainstreaming in the European Parliament and aims at deciphering the role of its committees and political groups in advancing or hindering the integration of gender perspectives. The article engages with feminist institutionalism and micro-political approaches, and is based on interview and documentary data. It examines how formal and informal institutions and micro-political strategies within committees and political groups affect the abilities of this representative European Union institution to ensure a gender perspective is present in European Union policies. We suggest that although the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (the gender-focused parliamentary body) oversees gender mainstreaming, committees and political groups, as the core actors of European Parliament policymaking, are the gatekeepers that determine the outcomes. Our findings advance understandings of the limits of gender mainstreaming in European Union policymaking and shed light on the specific challenges of gender mainstreaming and broader gender equality change in parliaments.
Schlagwörter:European Parliament; feminist institutionalism; gender equality; Gender Mainstreaming; Politics and government
CEWS Kategorie:Europa und Internationales, Frauen- und Geschlechterforschung
Feminist critical friends : Dilemmas of feminist engagement with governance and gender reform agendas
Autor/in:
Chappell, Louise; Mackay, Fiona
Quelle: European Journal of Politics and Gender, (2020) , 20 S
Inhalt: This article advances the concept of ‘feminist critical friends’ as a descriptor for those studying the efforts of ‘insider’ gender justice advocates working to transform governance structures and advance gender reform agendas within political, social, economic and military institutions. In refining the concept of feminist critical friendship, we reject perspectives that overstate the failures and ‘co-option’ that comes with engagement, while also resisting voluntarist versions that cede too much influence to feminist insiders. We pay attention to, and take seriously, the small wins that are achieved against the gendered, institutional and political odds, and recognise that sometimes, though not always, these can align to produce significant shifts in the gendered status quo. The article seeks to unpack the who, what, why and how of feminist critical friendship in order to advance this as a productive standpoint for feminist researchers interested in analysing processes of institutional stasis and change.
Quelle: European Journal of Politics and Gender, 20 (2020) 20, S 1–20
Inhalt: The rationale for this study is that self-categorising rating scales are becoming increasingly popular in large-scale survey research moving beyond binary ways of measuring gender. We are referring here to the use of rating scales that are similar to graded scales capturing left—right or liberal—conservative political ideology, that is, scales that do not include predefinitions of the core concepts (femininity/masculinity, as compared to left/right or liberal/conservative). Yet, previous studies including such non-binary gender measures have paid little attention to potential effects of survey designs. Using an experimental set-up, we are able to show that sequencing of gender measurements influences the answers received. Men were especially affected by our treatments and rated themselves as significantly ‘less masculine’ when prompted to reason about the meaning of gender prior to self-categorisation on scales measuring degrees of femininity and masculinity. Moreover, self-categorising seems to trigger more biological understandings of gender than anticipated in theory.
Categorical and gradational: alternative survey measures of sex and gender
Autor/in:
Saperstein, Aliya; Westbrook, Laurel
Quelle: European Journal of Politics and Gender, 20 (2020) 20, S 1–18
Inhalt: Demands for recognition of gender diversity and transgender people are growing. We tested non-binary sex and gender measures using nationally representative samples of US adults to assess feasibility for general population surveys. We find more support for a two-step categorical approach, with separate questions about natal sex and gender identity, than for a single question assessing transgender status as the latter was less reliable within our online surveys and over time. We also consider the challenge of determining measurement reliability for fluid characteristics and argue that using categorical and gradational gender measures in combination should become standard practice.
Comparing self-categorisation approaches to measuring gender identity
Autor/in:
Gidengil, Elisabeth; Stolle, Dietlind
Quelle: European Journal of Politics and Gender, 20 (2020) 20, S 1–22
Inhalt: This article compares two different measures of gender identity. Drawing on an online survey conducted with a representative sample of Americans that included both a single bipolar scale and separate masculinity and femininity scales, we compare how the same people respond depending on how gender identity is measured. The results of validation tests suggest that a single bipolar scale performs just as well in differentiating among those with sex-typical gender identities but separate masculinity and femininity scales are needed for studies investigating the political behaviour and preferences of those with sex-atypical identities.
Quelle: European Journal of Politics and Gender, 2 (2019) 1, S 23–40
Inhalt: This article conceptualises gender expertise in global governance as a transnational field. We propose two theoretical shifts: a depersonalisation to understand expertise as a field rather than experts as individuals or a group of people; and a re-conceptualisation of expertise from a depoliticised body of knowledge towards expertise as a performative and intrinsically political practice. Drawing on qualitative data, we identify practices of boundary drawing and erasing to analyse three key cleavages of this field: contestations over the boundary between gender expertise and feminism; contestations over scientific epistemologies and authority; and contestations over the logics of (post-)colonial politics surrounding gender expertise
Schlagwörter:epistemology; Expertise; feminism; Gender; Genderkompetenz; global governance; performance; political science; Politikwissenschaft; (post-)coloniality; Theoriebildung
Gender experts and critical friends : Research in relations of proximity
Autor/in:
Holvikivi, Aiko
Quelle: European Journal of Politics and Gender, 2 (2019) 1, S 131–147
Inhalt: Research on gender expertise is often conducted from relations of proximity between academics and gender experts, raising familiar feminist methodological questions about the researcher–researched relationship. In this article, I take up the suggestion that such relationships should be guided by the principles of 'critical friendship'. I argue that critical friendship should be understood as a two-way relationship that creates space to negotiate the goals of gender expertise and how it is practised. I also caution that relations of critical friendship may cause researchers to privilege the perspectives of Global North gender experts in academic analyses, while silencing other voices.
Schlagwörter:CRITICAL FRIENDSHIP; FEMINIST RESEARCH METHODS; FIELDWORK; gender expertise; gender knowledge; Genderkompetenz; Kritik; MILITARISATION; political science; Politikwissenschaft; RESEARCH ETHICS
Methods, methodologies and epistemologies in the study of gender and politics
Autor/in:
Tripp, Aili Mari; Hughes, Melanie M.
Quelle: European Journal of Politics and Gender, 1 (2018) 1, S 241–257
Inhalt: This 'state of the art' contribution reviews the methods, methodologies and epistemologies employed in gender and politics scholarship over time. We discuss the orientations and approaches of early scholars of Women and Politics, who challenged the claims that political science was both gender-neutral and objective, through more recent debates in political science over methodological pluralism, transparency and replicability. We trace the broadening of the subfield, marked by greater appreciation and use of quantitative research and by greater use and tolerance of quantitative approaches. We point to obstacles and promising directions in quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods research, demonstrating the methodological pluralism of gender and politics research today.
Revisiting gender equality at times of recession : A discussion of the strategies of gender and politics scholarship for dealing with equality
Autor/in:
Kantola, Johanna; Verloo, Mieke
Quelle: European Journal of Politics and Gender, 1 (2018) 1, S 205–222
Inhalt: The aim of this article is to explore the ways in which gender equality is used in gender and politics research. We contend that the political and theoretical relevance of studying the multiple meanings of gender equality is enhanced by current crises. We discern four strategies used in gender and politics research: (1) escaping equality; (2) fixing equality; (3) deconstructing equality; or (4) delegating equality to political theory. This article is motivated by the belief that what is needed is not only more reflection on these choices, but also a productive dialogue between the different strategies.