Out now: the results of the MAGEEQ project:

Multiple Meanings of Gender Equality -

A Critical Frame Analysis of Gender Policies in Europe

Background

The 1997 Treaty of Amsterdam places equality between women and men among the explicit tasks of the European Union and obliges the EU to promote gender equality in all its tasks and activities. In the strategy of Gender Mainstreaming it is recognised that gender should be an essential part of policies on science, labour market and employment, development co-operation and education. The Gender Mainstreaming approach that has been legitimated by this Treaty is backed by legislation and by positive action in favour of women (or the "under-represented sex"). With regard to gender inequality, the EU has both a formal EU problem definition at the present time, and a formalised set of EU strategies.

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Why gender inequality as a research case?

Gender inequality is not a simple problem, but a highly political problem, meaning that there is no real consensus about what the problem is exactly, about why and for whom it is a problem, about who is responsible for the existence of the problem, who is responsible for solving it. This means that there is an ongoing political power struggle over these definitions. The words that are used in the context of gender mainstreaming habitually suggest consensus, but more often than not these words - inequality between men and women, differences between men and women, equal opportunities for men and women - function as buzz words: they allow the illusion of consensus, until a hidden difference of opinion can no longer be concealed.