20 years after the Beijing Conference Gender Mainstreaming has been widely adopted all around Europe. Recent literature focuses on the problems which appear at the post-adoption stage. Different problems regarding gender mainstreaming implementation have been identified: among them, the lack of a full institutionalisation (Mergaert, Verloo and Bleijenbergh, 2014), the loss of transformative content (Lombardo and Verloo, 2010; Kantola and Nuisien, 2009) and the technocratisation of the strategy along the policy making process (Squires, 2007). As a consequence, a greater interest in the characteristics of the obstacles, resistance and opposition to gender change has emerged. The current economic crisis has also made evident the fragility and limitations of the previous achievements. Despite gender architecture developments, generally speaking as a result of the crisis the concern about (gender) equality has diminished or even disappeared and, as a result, gender-blind policies have become widespread (Bettio et al., 2012). In addition, a neoliberal governance has gained strength, which creates more obstacles for mainstreaming gender.
In this paper I will review the international literature on resistance and obstacles encountered during the implementation of gender mainstreaming and on the factors involved in a greater or lesser capacity of developing this strategy effectively in different contexts. As a part of a PhD research, I will map the diverse variables described in the different empirical and theoretical works on that issue and examine the main analytical approaches. Special attention will be paid to the impact of the crisis in this issue. To do so, I will identify the relevant factors that in different settings explain either the backlash of the gender equality agenda and politics, or, in contrast, its capacity of resilience and continuity.
