Equality and Diversity: European Perspectives

Abstract

Equality policies have become a central aspect of contemporary European public policy. The importance of equality issues within the EU and European member states is now manifest. However equality is conceptualized in widely differing ways within European states and its pursuit takes very different institutional forms. In addition to the increasing significance of diverse equality policies within Europe, we have also experienced a growing concern with difference. The ‘equality/difference’ debate has been a central concern of recent feminist theory. The need to recognize diversity amongst women, and to work with the concept of ‘intersectionality’ has become widespread amongst political theory. Meanwhile European states have each been negotiating the demands of ethnicity, disability, sexuality, religion, age and gender in ways shaped by their own institutional and cultural histories.

Title	Details
Headscarves: A Comparison of Public Thought and Public Policy in Germany and the Netherlands	View Paper Details
Gender equality and sexual orientation in Spain: intersectional policy frames	View Paper Details
Difference Between Women? Comparing Race and Gender Identities amongst Austrian Political Activists	View Paper Details
Equality and Diversity: Negotiating Complex equality strands in the UK	View Paper Details