Gender (In)Equalities and Public Policy

This section provides a forum for panels and papers covering a broad range of theoretical, empirical and methodological issues in the analysis of gender (in)equalities and public policy. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach to public policy, the section will concentrate on policies that explicitly aim to achieve greater gender equality, as well as those that aim to limit the rights of women and LGBTQIA+ and/or (re)introduce the idea that biological sex determines access to certain policy measures. The section will also focus on policies that do not explicitly target gender but have effects on gender and multiple inequalities. Acknowledging that global economic and (eco-)social challenges, Europeanization, neoliberal and social investment ideologies increasingly affect institutions and policies within the nation-state, we are seeking proposals that engage with (1) policy analysis, e.g. comparisons of policies from a gender perspective, the impact of policies on gender (in)equalities, and (2) the social, political, institutional, and cultural factors influencing the policies, as well as the role of gender in shaping policies. How are policies adapted to the multifaceted crises? How do public policies differ across countries? What are the consequences of structures and policies for women and other disadvantaged groups? A particular focus will be on policy change. How do policies evolve? How can we assess and measure policy change? What impact does policy change have on gender and intersectional inequalities? Under which conditions does policy change (not) happen and (not) transform gender structures? How are political processes and dynamics related to gendered political representation and leadership, mobilization, and civil society? We welcome panels analysing different policy areas, from abortion to education to employment to defense to agriculture. We would like to inspire panels focusing on social care policies, equality policies, anti-gender policies at different levels and in different geographical contexts, and the processes and dynamics surrounding them. Attention could also be given to the interactions between gender, marketisation and public policies, as well as to differences and similarities in policy dynamics and consequences across policy areas. We are interested in panels that analyse public policies in their various sequences, from problem definition, agenda-setting, decision-making and implementation to policy evaluation. Particular attention to the gender dimension of implementation, street-level organizations, evaluation, and policy feedbacks will be welcome. We are also interested in approaches analysing the diversity and combination of the uses of policy instruments affecting gender and the different levels and the multilevel aspects of policy making, from global to local. Recognising conceptual and methodological pluralism, we encourage panel proposals arising from different approaches (from ethnographic approaches to discursive and quantitative methodologies) in analysing public policies and covering broad geographical areas in comparative or single case studies. We particularly encourage panel proposals engaging in the following topics: - Gender and public policy from below: the reception and usages of (in)equality policies - Local actors, gender and public policy making - Public services and sexual minorities - Gender and the policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic - Gender and labour market policy reforms - Feminist interpretations of social policy reforms - Femocrats and gender transformation - The impact of the European Union on policies at the Member States’ level - The impact of ‘anti-gender campaigns’, right-wing populism and/or nativism on policies - Political representation of women and LGBTIQA+ and public policy reform - The politics of social care policies - Reproductive policies and religious actors