Depoliticising Gender Equality in Turbulent Times

The Case of the European Gender Action Plan for External Relations

Datos Bibliográficos

ID7973075
AutoresFriederike Beier (0000-0003-0556-0069, Freie Universität Berlin), Gülay Çağlar (0000-0002-5239-8247, Freie Universität Berlin, autor de correspondencia)
Año2020
Volumen18
Número3
Páginas426-443
Fecha de publicación2020-08-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaPolitical Studies Review (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1478-9299 • E-ISSN: 1478-9302
EditorialSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/1478929920929886
OpenAlexW3039499921
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas7
Referencias citadas60

Since more than a decade, the EU is confronted with a number of crises that significantly changed the environment under which the EU operates in the field of gender equality. Evidence shows, that in many European countries, the different crises have led to a deprioritisation of gender equality policies. However, the way in which the new Gender Action Plan for External Relations 2015–2020 of the European Union addresses and operationalises gender equality suggests in contrast a policy shift towards an intensified commitment and more comprehensive understanding of gender. Against this background, this article analyses, first, how the content and the conceptual orientation of gender equality policies in European Union’s external relations have changed in the light of post-crisis recommendations. Second, the article scrutinises the ways in which the European Union tries to tackle the credibility crisis through increasingly intensified and operationalised policy procedures. The argument put forth is that the gender-related indicators in the Gender Action Plan translate complex societal processes into a technical data-based framework and thereby depoliticise gender equality by simulating a technocratic, evidence-based and quantified form of politics

Action (physics · Action plan · Argument (complex analysis · Credibility · Economics · European union · Gender analysis · Gender equality · International trade · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Technocracy · European Union Policy and Governance · Gender Politics and Representation · Gender Studies · Human Rights and Development · Law