Changing State Feminism

By the mid 1990s, most western states, responding to the challenge of women's movements, had developed 'state feminism': institutions and policy measures to achieve gender equality. These developments have since been challenged by major political changes over the last decade, such as the increasing importance of the European Union and the United Nations, regionalization and decentralization, reforms of the welfare state and government and the introduction of gender mainstreaming. Women's policy institutions were also confronted with increasing diversity amongst women and amongst women's movements. This book analyses how these institutions in twelve western democracies have responded to the changes: Austria, Australia, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the United States. Were they able to maintain or enhance their roles or were they downsized? What was their relationship with women's movements groups? And why did some fare well and others lose out over the last decade?

Table of Contents:
Introduction; J.Kantola & J.Outshoorn Australia: The Fall of the Femocrat; M.Sawer What Happened to the Model Student? Austrian State Feminism since the 1990s; B.Sauer State Feminism and Women's Movements in Belgium: Complex Patterns in a Multi-Level System; K.Celis & P.Meier State Feminism Finnish Style: Strong Policies Clash with Implementation Problems; A.M.Holli & J.Kantola Women's Policy Agencies, Women's Movements and a Shifting Political Context: Toward a Gendered Republic in France?; A.Mazur Gender Governance in Post-Unification Germany: Between Institutionalization, Deregulation and Privatization; S.Lang Unfinished Business: Equality Policy and the Changing Context of State Feminism in Great Britain; J.Lovenduski Women's Policy Machinery in Italy between European Pressure and Domestic Constraints; M.Guadagnini & A.Dona Dutch Decay: The Dismantling of the Women's Policy Network in the Netherlands; J.Outshoorn & J.Oldersma The Evolution of Spanish State Feminism: A Fragmented Landscape; M.Bustelo & C.Ortbals Swedish State Feminism: Continuity and Change; C.Bergqvist , T.O.Blandy & D.Sainsbury Women's Policy Agencies and Climate Change in the US: The Era of Republican Dominance; D.E.McBride Assessing Changes in State Feminism over the Last Decade; J.Outshoorn & J.Kantola

About the Author :
JOYCE OUTSHOORN is Professor of Women's Studies at the University of Leiden, The Netherlands, where she teaches in the Department of Political Science. She is Co-director of the Research Network on Gender Politics and the State. She has published extensively on abortion politics, prostitution and women's movements. JOHANNA KANTOLA is Senior Lecturer in Politics at the University of Helsinki, Finland. She has published extensively on gender and the state and is currently working on gender and the EU.