Plenary Roundtable: Beyond the ballots: The gendered implications of the 2024 European elections

Abstract

The June 2024 European Parliament elections could mark a turning point in the European Union’s politics and policy initiatives, both domestically and internationally. EU citizens will be casting their ballot against the backdrop of crucial issues for Europe and the world, such as the rise of the far-right, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Israel’s war on Gaza, the green transition, and economic challenges. This roundtable seeks to critically examine the gendered implications of the EU elections, with a primary focus on how the changing composition of the European Parliament is likely to shape the agendas for gender and LGBTQ+ equality and the EU’s commitment to promoting human rights and feminist principles on the global stage. In this roundtable, we will bring together diverse scholars with various backgrounds, each offering a unique and relevant perspective on the outcome of the EU elections. Going beyond the mere interpretation of results, we will discuss what the European elections imply for representation and diversity within EU institutions, changing opportunities and constraints for feminist activism and intersectional alliances, and their consequences on the EU’s engagement with gender in foreign and security policies over the next five years. Contributors: dr. Koen Slootmaeckers (City, University of London) Koen Slootmaeckers is Reader in International Politics at City, University of London. His research deals with the symbolic nature of gender, masculinities and sexuality within international relations, with a particular focus on the promotion of and resistance to LGBT equality in international politics. More specifically, Koen has studied the EU accession of Serbia and how this process affects LGBT politics and activism. Through his work, Koen questions concepts like progress as well as the power relations within transnational politics and builds towards de-constructing core-periphery hierarchical relations. He is the author of Coming In: Sexual politics and EU accession in Serbia (2023, Manchester University Press), and is widely published in international top journals, including International Political Sociology, Theory and Society, and Social Problems. dr. Marta Rawłuszko (University of Warsaw) Marta Rawłuszko is Assistant Professor in the Institute of Applied Social Sciences at the University of Warsaw and a co-founder of the Feminist Fund in Poland. Her current research interests focus on feminist activism, democracy, political theory and sexual violence. Her work has been published in international journals such as Politics & Gender, European Journal of Women Studies and European Journal of Politics & Gender. She has also contributed to the Routledge Handbook of the Politics of #MeToo Movement (2020). dr. Sophie Jacquot (UCLouvain Saint-Louis Bruxelles) Sophie Jacquot is Professor of Political Science at UCLouvain Saint-Louis Bruxelles (Belgium). From a background in sociology of policy analysis, she specializes in EU and gender studies. Her research interests focus on the transformation of EU gender and anti-discrimination policies, the Europeanization of social and gender+ equality policies, the evolution of European social dialogue and the influence of Eurobarometer surveys in the design of EU policymaking. She has published a monograph of reference on Transformations in EU Gender Equality Policy. From Emergence to Dismantling (Palgrave, 2015). dr. Toni Haastrup (University of Manchester) Toni Haastrup is a Professor in the School of Social Sciences at the University of Manchester. A feminist researcher and teacher, she is particularly interested in the ways in which gendered and racial hierarchies reassert themselves in ostensibly emancipatory interventions in global politics. She is especially interested in regional security practices in Africa and Europe, and the politics of knowledge production. These interests are reflecting in her ongoing work around feminist foreign policy. In addition to her scholarly interests, Toni is also interested in the state of the discipline & profession. Chairs: dr. Petra Debusscher (Ghent University) Petra Debusscher is researcher and lecturer at the Ghent Institute for International and European Studies (GIES) at Ghent University. Her research interests include gender equality in EU policies, EU development and external policy, intersectionality and gender mainstreaming. She has published widely in international journals such as Social Politics, European Journal of Women Studies, Political Studies Review and Development and Change. In addition to her academic work, Petra has extensive experience working as a gender expert for EU institutions, including for the European Commission (DG JUST, REA, DG INTPA), the European Parliament’s FEMM Committee, the European Institute for Gender Equality and the European Institute of Innovation & Technology among others. dr. Laura Luciani (Ghent University) Laura Luciani is a postdoctoral researcher at the Ghent Institute for International and European Studies (Ghent University). Her research interests include norms contestation, local perceptions of international interventions, feminist geopolitics, the European Neighbourhood Policy, and postcolonial approaches. She received her PhD degree from Ghent University in 2022. Her dissertation examined the European Union’s policies of human rights promotion in the South Caucasus from the perspective of the local civil societies. Her work has been published in international journals such as Cooperation and Conflict, Europe-Asia Studies and Problems of Post-Communism.