Feminist European Union Studies

Abstract

Gender approaches and feminist contributions to the study of International Relations have made a significant contribution to the discipline, both from a theoretical standpoint as well as by opening new avenues for empirical research. Feminist approaches have not become mainstream, but IR scholarship is increasingly recognising the importance of this field to the study of world politics. This is not the case for European integration studies. Despite the fact that the European equality agenda is one of the most developed areas of European social policy, gender perspectives have remained marginal to the discipline and have focused predominantly on issues relating to women’s employment and participation in the official labour market. Recent inclusion of gender chapters in key textbooks should not be seen as a meaningful engagement with feminist concerns about the discipline and more general institutional blindness. This panel seeks to bring gender at the forefront of key debates about the nature of the Union, as well as key trends in EU politics and policy.