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Gendering Democracy in an Enlarged Europe
[ 13.4.2005, Institute of Governance, Public Policy and Social Research
Rovné příležitosti > Rovné příležitosti
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Enlargement, Gender and Governance (EGG): The Civic and Political Participation and Representation of Women in 10 Central and Eastern European Countries, A project funded by the EU’s 5th Framework Programme.
Final Conference: Masarykova Kolej, Prague, 20 June, 2005
Project Outline
The main aim of ‘Enlargement, Gender and Governance’ (EGG) is to analyse the extent to which representative institutions and other organizations (such as political parties, trade unions, NGOs and social movements) enable women's participation and representation in political decision-making and governance in ten Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. By looking at how the history of communist rule has affected women's current political position, the project will provide recommendations to the Commission and CEE governments in order to underpin effective future policy-making.
EGG is distinct in its consideration of the development of democratic governance and civil society in Central and Eastern Europe through a ‘gender lens’. The project offers a systematic analysis of gender and enlargement, the civic and political participation of women, and the effectiveness of attempts by the Commission and CEE government to legislate on gender equality. It is unique in the size and scale of the research, bringing together academic experts from eight CEE countries that became EU members in 2004 and two expected to join in 2007.
The project focuses on three questions:
To what extent, and in what ways, have the twin forces of democratisation and preparation for EU accession influenced women's civic and political participation in candidate countries?
To what extent, and in what ways, are women's civil associations embedded in the equality policy framework in candidate countries?
Are there specific strategies that could be adopted to enhance women's contribution to governance?
Specific objectives include:
Trace, map and analyse the contribution of women's political and civic organisations to governance in CEE countries as they evolve through democratisation and EU integration.
Analyse the extent to which institutions encourage or inhibit women's representation and participation in discussing and determining policies and actions in which women have direct and indirect interests.
Identify areas where women's participation is weaker and assess why.
Evaluate women's influence on the adoption and implementation of current Commission and national government policies, such as gender mainstreaming and the implementation of the EU equality acquis.
Identify new forms of gender discrimination and segregation in post-communist countries and assess the measures required to address these problems.
Evaluate whether effective monitoring bodies have been established to ensure the enforcement of this legislation.
The main working hypothesis of this project is that women are under-represented in European representative institutions and associated groups (political parties, trade unions, NGOs and social movements). There are many reasons for this gender gap, but a contributing factor is that the importance of women's contributions to building a sustainable democracy is under-recognised in the development of democratic institutions and practices. Furthermore, women's participation and influence is likely to proceed slowly after candidate countries obtain EU membership unless a range of measures designed to enhance women's participation in democratic institutions and governance are developed and implemented.
The danger is that as democratic governance evolves in CEE countries, representative institutions are likely to give preference to masculine norms, values and practices over gender-sensitive norms, values and practices. This has the effect of creating a democratic deficit and excluding women and women's needs, interests and perspectives from governance. The hypothesis will be developed within the context of an examination of economic and social patterns of change affecting women's status and social roles since 1989.
The research is divided into seven work packages, each of which flows logically from its predecessor. The first stage provided a theoretical foundation, establishing a common vocabulary among participants and a historical grounding within which to consider women's present civic and political participation.
The next five components gather evidence on the current state of affairs: a mapping exercise established the visibility of women in political positions and the activities of NGOs in progressing the equality agenda, and an analytic exercise considered the effectiveness of transposing the EU's equality acquis and creating gender mainstreaming programmes. In other words, the initial collection of 'numbers' will shape the legislative case studies and particularly the interview questions - which will, in turn, help explain the collected data.
During the final stage of the project researchers will compile the qualitative and quantitative results, enabling the preparation of individual country reports and an over-arching comparative report that include policy recommendations for the Commission and CEE governments.
For more information, see the project website: www.qub.ac.uk/egg
PROVISIONAL PROGRAMME
9.30 – 9.45 Registration
9.45 – 10.00 Opening
Anna Curdova, Council for Equal Opportunities, Czech Republic (tbc)
10.00 – 12.30 Panel Discussion: ‘Gender in an Enlarging Europe’
Barbara Einhorn, University of Sussex (tbc)
Zita Gurmai, Committee on Women’s Rights, European Parliament (tbc)
Kinga Lohman, Karat Coalition (tbc)
Chair Yvonne Galligan, Queen’s University Belfast
12.30 – 13.30 Lunch
13.30 – 15.00 Workshops
1. Women’s Political Participation in CEE Countries
Eva Bahovec, University of Ljubljana
Sandra Bitusikova, Matej Bel University
Ausma Cimdina, University of Latvia
Meilute Taljunaite, Mykolas Romeris University
Chair Marina Calloni, University of Milan
Discussant Sonja Lokar, CEE Network for Women’s Studies (tbc)
2. Feminist Mobilisation
Georgeta Ghebrea, University of Bucharest
Hana Haskova, Academy of Sciences – Czech Republic
Malgorzata Fuszara, University of Warsaw
Nelly Videva, University of Sofia
Chair Pat Sykes, American University
Discussant Sevetlana Kupryashkina-McGill, Ukrainian European Women’s Initiative
3. Implementing Gender Mainstreaming
Sara Clavero, Queen’s University Belfast
Eva Eberhardt, Queen’s University Belfast
Anu Laas, University of Tartu
Chair Sara Clavero, Queen’s University Belfast
Discussant Fiona Beveridge, University of Liverpool (tbc)
15. 00 - 16.00 Reports from Workshops
16.00 -16. 20 Conclusions
Pat Sykes, American University
16.30 – 18. 00 Reception
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