1st Edition

Sex Equality Policy in Western Europe

Edited By Frances Gardiner Copyright 1997

    This book presents a wide-ranging comparative analysis of the development of sex-equality policies within Europe. The contributors, comprising both European and US-based scholars, address a very current political issue. This is an area of policy that has reached the decision-making stage in much of Europe and it is thus possible to assess the outcome of policy-making and to account for cross-national variations of sex-equality policy measures.
    The contributors discuss the similarities and differences in levels of awareness, commitment to equality of opportunity and readiness to turn rhetoric into reality in a number of west European countries, including Spain, the Netherlands, Britain, Norway and Ireland.

    Chapter 1 Introduction, Frances Gardiner; Part 1 Contested concepts – selective practice; Chapter 2 Effective utilisation of equality rights, Claire Kilpatrick; Chapter 3 Equality strategies and political representation, Pippa Norris; Chapter 4 The timid and the bold, Frances Gardiner, Monique Leijenaar; Part 2 Elements in the policy community and process; Chapter 5 Sex equality and the rules of the game, Joni Lovenduski; Chapter 6 Incorporating feminism, Joyce Outshoorn; Chapter 7 State feminism and gender equality policies, Celia Valiente; Chapter 8 The organisation of equality policies at the local level, Janneke van der Ros; Part 3 Privatising equality, gendered citizenship, inter/transnational influences; Chapter 9 The privatisation of equality policy in the British employment market for women, Ian Forbes; Chapter 10 Citizenship, welfare state regimes and breadwinner arrangements, Jet Bussemaker; Chapter 11 Dea ex Machina or the interplay between national and international policymaking, Bob Reinalda;

    Biography

    Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam On behalf of the European Consortium for Political Research

    'It is immediately obvious that this volume not only builds on the existing literature but also brings considerable new light to the subject.... Scholars in search of a strong comparative theoretical framework for understanding women's policy in the EU should consider this volume a necessary place to start.' - Rachel A. Cischowski, University of California, Irvine