What's the problem with gender‐based analysis? Gender mainstreaming policy and practice in Canada

Bibliographic Data

ID9784733
AuthorsStephanie Paterson (0009-0007-5421-4329, Concordia University, corresponding author)
Year2010
Volume53
Issue3
Pages395-416
Publication date2010-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCanadian Public Administration (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0008-4840 • E-ISSN: 1754-7121
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1754-7121.2010.00134.x
OpenAlexW1523336026
LanguageEN
Citations received34
References cited54

Gender “mainstreaming” is an important concept in feminist politics because it integrates a gendered perspective into all policy‐ and decision‐making. However, while most scholars agree that gender mainstreaming has the potential to transform social relations, to date it has been limited and delivered only marginal benefits for a few women. In the Canadian context, scholars have pointed to several contextual and conceptual issues that limit the transformative potential of gender‐based analysis. While such studies have contributed to our understanding of the impacts of gender mainstreaming, the author suggests that we must also explore the creative or productive dimensions of mainstreaming. When we do so, we see that gender mainstreaming constructs a new form of worker: the “gender expert,” who is then given authority to analyse, monitor and suggest interventions based on “expert analysis.” From this perspective, gender analysis becomes a “technology of rule,” constructing gender experts whose power ultimately goes unscrutinized in the context of the organization, thus obscuring the ways in which gender systems are reproduced or fractured by gender mainstreaming itself. In closing, the author calls for a reorientation of gender mainstreaming, away from an analytic approach that focuses only on the instrumental effects of policies and towards an approach that illuminates both the instrumental and creative impacts of policies

Context (archaeology · Gender analysis · Gender equality · Gender mainstreaming · Geography · Mainstreaming · Perspective (graphical · Political science · Sociology · Transformative learning · Gender Diversity and Inequality · Gender Politics and Representation · Gender Studies · Law · Social Policy and Reform Studies

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