A discursive and cognitive approach to the Europeanization of Gender and other equality policies
Panel Chairs:
Maxime Forest, Institut des Études Politiques de Toulouse
Emanuela Lombardo, Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Discutant :
Fiona Beveridge, University of Liverpool (TBC)
Abstract:
Gender equality, as a field of EU intervention, has a rich record in the development of both "hard" and "soft" policy mechanisms, with a special emphasis on the latter, through the diffusion of mainstreaming and the open method of coordination. Hence, it provides an excellent starting point to explore the cognitive domestic impact of Europe through norms diffusion or social learning. Additionally, drawing on social movement literature and public policy analysis, the reflection on the making of gender equality and anti-discrimination policies sheds light on the importance of discursive frames that shape the meaning of policies in different ways (Lombardo, Meier and Verloo, 2009).
Drawing on recent developments in the Europeanization literature, and more explicitly referring to cognitive-discursive approaches, this panel will address the discursive opportunity structures opened by the domestic impact of the EU in the fields of gender and anti-discrimination policies. Considering that in processes of discursive contestation as those occurring in national political arenas, this impact acquires a multiplicity of meanings, papers addressing the role of ideas, meanings, norms and frames in policy change are welcomed.
With the main objective of discussing theoretical and methodological aspects of a discursive approach to the Europeanization of gender and other equality policies, this panel thus aims at bringing together similar research agendas that have developed separately in Europeanization studies and in the comparative analysis of gender and other equality policies in Europe.
To document the political and rhetoric usages of Europe in domestic configurations around gender issues, case studies, as well as comparative approaches will be useful. Proposed papers can draw on a variety of approaches, in line with literatures focusing either on policy instruments (Jacquot, 2006 ; Beveridge, 2008), policy frames (Verloo, 2007) or "référentiels" (Surel, ; Muller, 2002), but also by providing innovative theoretical, methodological and empirical insights.
