Roberta Guerrina

Mothering in Europe - Feminist critique of European policies on motherhood and employment

This article looks at the role of the European Union in promoting substantive equality for men and women in the European labour market. For this purpose it looks at the assumptions about gender roles and gender divisions of labour enshrined by EU directives on maternity rights and parental leave. The article presents a theoretical discussion of the role of EU policies in protecting womens rights and thus promoting a socioeconomic model that allows men and women to reconcile work and family life. The main policies at the heart of this research are the 1992 Pregnant Worker Directive, the 1996 Parental Leave Directive, the 1992 Childcare Recommendations and the 2000 Council Resolution on Balanced Participation in Work and Family Life. The article thus assesses the gender biases of EU policies and the ensuing implications for the future of gender relations and socioeconomic trends in Europe.

Equality, difference and motherhood: the case for a feminist analysis of equal rights and maternity legislation

This article looks at the three feminist interpretations of maternity legislation and equal rights policies. It discusses the impact of different constructions or interpretations of equality, and what is necessary to achieve it, upon the definition of successful legislation. Equality, difference and post-structuralist feminisms have each introduced different concepts and issues to the analysis of the relationship between gender, society, and legal structures. The argument developed in the article engages both with the equality - difference debate and with post-structuralist constructions of woman and mother. The central argument is that, despite significant differences in these feminist approaches, it is important to consider both the strengths and weakness of each to highlight current limitations of maternity legislation and equal rights policies. The focus on maternity legislation arises from the nature of the issues it seeks to address. Although maternity legislation is part of health and safety and employment legislation, motherhood remains a personal issue. I use British and European law as examples of liberal approaches to maternity legislation, and I conclude that the concept of equality enshrined within the law is founded upon a narrow concept of equality that focuses on formal rather than substantive equality.

Gendering normative power Europe: lessons of the Women, Peace and Security agenda

The European Union is seen to operate at the international level by promoting ideas and values, rather than by exerting military or economic power. As a gender actor, the EU has played a key role in the development of formal equality, which is presented as a foundational principle of European integration. It therefore follows that normative power Europe should seek to promote these values in external affairs. This article interrogates the role of the EU as a normative gender actor in relation to its implementation of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda, set out in UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and related resolutions. Documentary analysis will be supplemented by a detailed assessment of speeches and public statements about the role of the EU as a gender actor in external affairs. This data will be used to assess whether there is a disjuncture between the dominant narrative about gender equality as a fundamental value of the EU and the actions of the organization. It will also allow us to assess whether gender mainstreaming is a tool for public diplomacy or has made a significant change to the way the external relations agenda is formulated and implemented. Additionally, the article will draw attention to the institutional obstacles to the EU performing a role as a gender actor in external affairs. It identifies a critical tension between framing the WPS resolutions as an extension of the EUs equality on the one hand, and understanding that gender mainstreaming is a mere policy tool in international affairs. In doing so, it highlights how competing institutional demands can ultimately undermine core values (e.g. equality) when they are used instrumentally.

Participation, Dialogue, and Civic Engagement: Understanding the Role of Organized Civil Society in Promoting Active Citizenship in the European Union

Abstract This article looks at current policies concerning the civic and political participation of youths, women, migrants, and minorities in the European Union. It highlights the ways in which active citizenship and civic engagement have become a political priority for European institutions. Representation of local policy actors at the supranational level and strategies for the inclusion of civil society provide a platform for evaluating the impact of Europeanization at the national and subnational level. The article focuses on key discourses and narratives associated with specific policy frames (e.g. European citizenship, European social policies, and the European public sphere (EPS)). Some of the key questions addressed by the article are: What are the strategies that are employed, both by the European institutions in Brussels and organized civil society (OCS), to enhance participation and reciprocal communication? What vision of governance do practices such as active engagement and civil dialogue represent? Drawing on current theories of governance, our article contributes to the debate about the EPS by evaluating the role of OCS in bridging the gap between European institutions and national polities. Equally, our focus on traditionally marginal groups provides a platform for assessing the institutionalization of the ‘European social dimension’.

Negotiating difference/negotiating rights: the challenges and opportunities of women’s human rights

The year 2004 marked the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. A significant landmark in the development of a coherent strategy for the promotion and protection of women’s human rights, it established the principle that for women to enjoy equal rights, they needed an extra layer of ‘protection’. More importantly, it detailed states’ legal obligations in the area of women’s rights. Since then, the development of women’s human rights has continued to challenge the boundaries between the public, the private and the international. It was in this context that the Beijing women’s conference (1995) created a climate of expectation among women’s groups and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that the project to advance women’s human rights in practice might gather and sustain momentum. Yet, it is evident that there remains an enormous gap between the rhetoric and realities of women’s human rights, whereby women’s rights continue to be contested in countries across the world and governments are often unwilling to fulfil their international obligations.

Gender Mainstreaming and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights

Abstract This article explores the impact of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights on the position of women in the EU. The context of the paper is current debates about womens rights and constitutionalism in Europe. The discussion outlines the development of EU womens rights, the introduction and development of Union citizenship within the Treaties and the launch of the Charter at the Nice Summit. The paper thus explores the position of equality and womens rights in the Charter, with particular emphasis on the Commission and Treaties’ commitments to mainstreaming. The paper concludes with an evaluation of the power of mainstreaming as a theory and political strategy for the pursuit of substantive equality within the EU.

Framing civic engagement, political participation and active citizenship in Europe

This book evaluates the role that civic engagement, political participation and active citizenship can play in promoting the establishment of a European polity. The chapters included here examine how the practice of active citizenship is managed and constructed in the context of a European drive to increase civic engagement and political participation in three member states (Portugal, Italy and the UK) and one accession country (Turkey). Looking at both processes and policies promoting active citizenship at the European and national levels, this book uncovers current discourses as well as political priorities and values that surround the activities of non- governmental organizations (NGOs). Of particular interest are debates about the nature and level of civic and political participation and engagement of marginal groups (women, youths, migrants and minorities) as they are particularly vulnerable to social exclusion. The book focuses on the interaction between institutions and civil society actors, addressing a number of questions related to their reciprocal role in influencing, shaping, criticising or disregarding certain political priorities.

Gendering European Economic Narratives: Assessing the Costs of the Crisis to Gender Equality

Austerity has become the defining feature of EU politics over the last ten years. The language of exceptionalism associated with the ‘the great recession’ (Keeley and Love 2010) has proved to be fertile ground for ideologically driven restructuring. Concerns about sovereign debt and its impact of the stability of the Eurozone led to the establishment of strict fiscal mechanisms aimed at ensuring member states’ compliance and have led to the most systematic challenge to the European social model to date.

Transforming CSDP? Feminist Triangles and Gender Regimes: CSDP and Gender Regimes

Despite equality being considered one of the key normative foundations of the EU, gender has not yet been mainstreamed within the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). This article investigates the impact of institutional structures on the inclusion of a gender dimension in this policy area. The article adopts Woodward’s (2003) model of feminist triangles to unpack the role of actors and processes; specifically, highlighting key innovations and missed opportunities to integrate gender into CSDP. Focusing in particular on femocrats, the article argues that for gender mainstreaming to take place, the office of the Gender Advisor needs to bridge the division between the military and civilian dimension of CSDP. It concludes that CSDP remains largely gender blind in spite of the EU’s adoption of an action plan for the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security.

Socio-economic challenges to work-life balance at times of crisis

It is now well established that work life balance should not only be regarded as a fundamental employment right, but also as an important element for the achievement of other EU policies and is key to promote women’s activation in the labour market. For this purpose, European institutions (namely the Commission and the European Parliament) set about implanting a set of policies and legislative measures between the late 1990s and 2008. The onset of the sovereign debt crisis in 2008 and the associated austerity measures have posed a serious challenged to realisation of the Lisbon Agenda to establish a comprehensive framework for the reconciliation of work and family life. Crisis has provided an opportunity for ideologically driven cuts aimed at retrenching the Europe social model. The debates at the national and European level seemingly ignored the gendered nature of this policy shift, thus reasserting the centrality of hegemonic gender norms across Europe. This article seeks to assess the extent of the impact of the recession and of the austerity measure that were introduced as a mean to address the challenges of economic crisis on work life balance policies.