23-24 June 2022 / University of Verona
Workshop of the Standing Group “Gender and Politics” of the Italian Political Science Association
New challenges, changes and trajectories in gender equality policies
Keynote conference:
Opposition to gender equality policies, de-democratization, and feminist institutional response in Europe: challenges and opportunities
Emanuela Lombardo (Universidad Complutense de Madrid)
CALL FOR PAPERS
In recent years and in different contexts, gender and LGBTI+ equality strategies elaborated between the end of the 1990s and the 2000s seem to be called into question or reshaped in a restrictive, limiting or even “illiberal” sense. These changes do not have only domestic effects but have repercussions also at the international and European level, influencing political and diplomatic processes eventually generating or amplifying processes of de-democratization.
At the same time, gender and LGBTI+ equality policies started receiving increasing attention by policymakers while becoming increasingly salient in public opinion. These new public policy agendas are sometimes elaborated as long-term strategic objectives, such as in the UN Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development and in the European Commission “LGBTIQ Equality Strategy 2020-2025”, that includes recommendations for the implementation and expansion of gender and LGBTI+ equality policies. In many cases, transnational recommendations have been imported and implemented at different level of governance.
However, the attempts to promote and implement such agendas unveiled unexpected conflicts between different approaches to equality, equal opportunities, and the fight against violence and discrimination, in particular with reference to the distinction between gender equality and LGBTI+ equality programs, as in the case of the Zan Bill in Italy. Yet, such conflicts can also induce changes in models and paradigms of egalitarian policies.
Drawing on these current developments, the workshop invites contributions that address the following questions and related ones:
- Which challenges, changes, and trajectories in gender and LGBTI+ equality policies can be identified at the different levels of analysis (local, national, European and international)?
- Are there some specific effects of the policy responses to COVID-19 pandemic?
- How is the framing of gender and LGBTI+ equality policies changing? Which (new) forms of political participation of different or new actors, organizations, or movements are emerging? Are there new or renewed equality policy communities?
- Is it possible to identify new policy-making paradigms compared to first-generation gender equality policies?
- How do such transformations and new policy trajectories affect electoral competition and party politics?
The deadline for paper proposals is 8 April 2022. Please send a short abstract (max. 400 words) together with a short bio to the co-chairs of the SISP Standing Group on Gender and Politics: pamela.pansardi@unipv.itand massimo.prearo@univr.it
There is no registration fee, but accommodation and travel costs are to be covered by the participants. For Early Career Researchers (PhD students and post-doc researchers) the Standing Group is pleased to offer two scholarships (up to 250€) covering travel and accommodation costs, in collaboration with the Italian Political Science Association. Please, send your motivated request to generepolitica@gmail.com.
