Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way: Sub-National Governments Opposing Gendered Austerity in Spain

Resistance to the gendered effects of the neoliberal economic policy making that has dominated in Europe following the economic crises since 2008 has been rife. Scholars have argued that multi-level governance structures have provided actors with scope for resisting the gendered effects of austerity, and that party ideology has been an important determinant for whether political actors in subnational governments have attempted to counter-act austerity measures. In this paper, I examine how politicians and bureaucrats in Spanish regional governments conceptualise the deregulation of the Spanish labour market following the economic crisis from a gender perspective, and how they have attempted to resist its gendered effects. I draw on interviews with policymakers, bureaucrats, and social partners in three Spanish regions, and policy documents such as gender equality plans, budget gender impact reports, and annual employment strategies. I find that in the regional governments where politicians and bureaucrats are attentive to the negative gendered effects of labour market deregulation, regional governments have attempted to counteract these effects by actively promoting social dialogue between unions and employer associations, and by demanding better working conditions from companies receiving public tenders.