I.L. Bleijenbergh

European Social Citizenship and Gender: The Part-time Work Directive

This article considers whether the development of European rights for workers implies a European social citizenship. It analyses the debate during the preparation and adoption of the EU Directive on part-time work in 1997, which guarantees part-time workers (who are primarily women) the same pay and working conditions as full-time workers. Was the concept of social citizenship discussed during its preparation and adoption? What kind of gender equality was involved: are women granted equal access to the European market or equal outcomes? We conclude that the Directive involves industrial rather thansocial citizenship, but ideals of social citizenship were nevertheless at stake during its preparation.

Do online communities change power processes in healthcare? Using case studies to examine the use of online health communities by patients with Parkinson's disease

Objective Communication technologies, such as personal online health communities, are increasingly considered as a tool to realise patient empowerment. However, little is known about the actual use of online health communities. Here, we investigated if and how patients use of online communities supports patient empowerment. Setting A network of primary and secondary care providers around individual patients with Parkinsons disease. Participants We conducted case studies to examine our research question. We interviewed 18 patients with Parkinsons disease and observed the use of online health communities of 14 of them for an average of 1u2005year. Primary outcome measures We analysed the interviews and the online conversations between patients and healthcare providers, using Foucaults framework for studying power processes. Results We observed that patient empowerment is inhibited by implicit norms that exist within these communities around the number and content of postings. First, patients refrained from asking too many questions of their healthcare providers, but felt obliged to offer them regular updates. Second, patients scrutinised the content of their postings, being afraid to come across as complainers. Third, patients were cautious in making knowledge claims about their disease. Conclusions Changing implicit norms within online communities and the societal context they exist in seems necessary to achieve greater patient empowerment. Possibilities for changing these norms might lie in open dialogue between patient and healthcare providers about expectations, revising the curriculum of medical education and redesigning personal online health communities to support two-way knowledge exchange.

Trading Well-Being for Economic Efficiency

Summary In 1992, the European Union (EU) adopted the Recommendation on Childcare and became involved in childcare policy. For the first time, care services and domestic care were acknowledged as the common responsibility of all the European and national political units. The article shows the interaction between childcare policy at the European level and in three welfare states with strong male breadwinner policy logics: Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom (UK). At the European and national levels, arguments prioritizing economic efficiency and equal opportunities gained ground at the expense

Transformational change towards gender equality: An autobiographical reflection on resistance during participatory action research:

This article contributes to the academic debate about gender equality change by conceptualizing resistance to gender equality change as characteristic of a system where gendered organizations tend to move back to an equilibrium when confronted with change. It explores the role of change agents and change recipients in challenging this equilibrium using autobiographical reflections on three events of resistance during participatory action research aimed at gender equality in Dutch universities. It argues that resistance can be understood as stakeholders’ articulated defence of the organizational identity when research results threaten gendered organizational norms, beliefs and values. Organizational change cognitively and emotionally challenges not only change recipients but also change agents. Reflection on and sharing of personal experiences in groups of researchers may be sources of empowerment, enabling gender equality change agents to continue the conversation with change recipients. This conversation may transform not only change recipients but also change agents.

The Women’s Vote in The Netherlands: From the "Houseman’s Vote" to Full Citizenship

Dutch women gained the vote in 1919, which was relatively early in comparison with other Western European countries; only Finland and Sweden introduced female suffrage earlier than The Netherlands. Participation of women in the Dutch public sphere has seemed irreversible. Women participating in political parties on a larger scale than ever, and the striving for equal participation of women in political life has become a broadly shared principle. At the same time, women are part of the Dutch public sphere through their labour market participation: although women still often have part-time jobs and a glass ceiling still exists, the participation rate is increasing and expected to do so further in the coming years, in part because of demographic developments. Womens citizenship is about imagining a social world in which citizens lives integrate wage-earning, care-giving, community activism, political participation, and involvement in the associational life of civil society. Keywords:citizenship; civil society; community activism; Dutch; Netherlands; political participation; vote; women