After a sustained period of expansion of Gender Equality policies, it seems that we are now at a turning point, especially in Southern Europe. The economic and financial crisis has led to hard austerity policies, and the concern about (gender) equality has diminished or even disappeared. Indeed, in many places there is a virtual paralysis in the ongoing programs, which shows the fragility of previous achievements.
Hence, reflection on the opposition to the initiatives promoting gender equality is one of the most urgent challenges facing femocrats, who need to rethink Gender Equality priorities, strategies and intervention tools to counteract this trend and have greater impact.
This paper proposes a specific analysis of resistances to the Spanish regional Equality Bodies’ implementation of Gender Mainstreaming (GM) Strategy. It will focus on two issues; firstly, the policy makers’ opposition to the GM paying particular attention to Human Resources, training, budgeting, or information systems’ officers. Questions like who are resisting, what changes are being resisted, why and so on will be addressed. Secondly, the strategies deployed by the femocrats to counteract these oppositions will be analysed.
This study will draw upon 45 interviews carried out from 2005-12 to high level policy officers (both femocrats and non femocrats) in the two regions of Spain with the highest degree of development of GM strategy (Basque Country and Catalonia).
It is expected that this approach will allow us to explore the influence of different aspects in both policymakers’ resistance and femocrats’ reactions; such as the features, path and strength of the Equality Body, the government’s composition (coalition’s or unitary’s), the political opportunity structure, and the institutional and legislative contexts. Moreover, specific attention to the effect of the economic crisis on this issue will be paid.
