European Union supra state feminism : redistributional gender equality policy and training in Europe and Ireland, 1971-1997

Abstract

This study is located within debates about the impact of second wave feminism on European gender contracts. Its particular focus is the development of EU supra state feminism in the form of gender equality policy since the early 1970s. It argues that gender equality policy cannot be fully understood without consideration of its budgetary dimension. Based on Majone's theory (1993) that overall EU social policy com prises both social regulation and social redistribution, this study highlighted the fact that a redistributional aspect to EU gender equality policy had existed since 1971 but that this dimension had received scant attention in the literature. The thesis hypothesised that comprehensive study of redistributional equality policy would provide a new perspective on gender equality policy as a whole. It further argued that redistributional equality policy required new theorisation since it related to a key aspect of the reproduction of the gendered European labour market, namely training policy and provision. This study took an historical comparative approach, based on documentary sources. Its timeframe was 1971 to 1997, that is from the introduction of initiatives regarding women's training in the ESF in 1971 to agreement on the Amsterdam Treaty in 1997. The comparative element was provided principally through a detailed case study of EU redistributional equality policy in the Republic of Ireland. The study provides a comprehensive analysis of EU redistributional gender equality policy over these decades. The research findings confirm the hypothesis that full inclusion of the redistributional dimension modifies current theorisation of such policy. In particular the study found that the balance of explanation for such policy's weak effects needed to move further towards the EU gender contract as compared with the gender contracts of the member states.