Stefanie Wöhl is Professor of Political Science and holds a Jean Monnet Chair at the Department of European Economy and Business Management, University of Applied Sciences BFI Vienna, Austria. Her current projects focus on Diversity and Social Cohesion in the European Union. She edited a book on the State of the EU in 2020. See the blog at https://eis.fh-vie.ac.at Her main research focus is the gendered international political economy, democracy in times of multiple crises within the EU and state transformations as we encounter them today in more authoritarian and other forms. Phone: +43 1 720 12 86-0 Address: University of Applied Sciences BFI Vienna Wohlmutstraße 22 A-1020 Vienna
DESCRIPTION This chapter explores the European integration process from a theoretical perspective... more DESCRIPTION This chapter explores the European integration process from a theoretical perspective following Foucault’s insights on power as governmentality (Foucault 2007, 2008). A governmentality approach investigates the ambivalent and power-laden processes of governing; governmentality scholars focus especially on political rationalities, discursive constructions of norms, knowledge, subject formations and other technologies of government such as expertise (Miller and Rose 2008). In this vein, they describe the process of governing and draw particular attention to the ambivalent material effects of technologies of power needed to govern European or international space (Larner and Walters 2004; Walters and Haahr 2005). Foucault’s main concern was to investigate power as governmentality, i.e. as an art of governing subjects as population and governing political space, as well as an analysis of how political rationalities and technologies of government developed from the 17th centur...
In order to understand the capitalist mode of production, social reproduction within society and ... more In order to understand the capitalist mode of production, social reproduction within society and state transformation during financial and economic crisis, a research focus is needed that encompasses gender and other relations of domination. Lux and Wöhl outline a feminist political economy framework for an analysis of crisis in capitalism that is aware of normative constructions of gender, as well as its symbolic and material reproduction in capitalist societies. Applying the framework to crisis governance in Spain and France, the authors show how different gender regimes respond to the crisis by different policies. They conclude that the crisis has not challenged, but deepened gender inequalities while neoliberal economic governance has been restored.
The global crisis that was sparked by the collapse of Lehman Brothers led many commentators to li... more The global crisis that was sparked by the collapse of Lehman Brothers led many commentators to link the failure of neoliberal policy prescriptions to the dominance of men at the top of economic hierarchies, especially in the finance sector, as Elisabeth Prugl notes in her chapter in this volume of "Scandalous Economics" (2016). We also concur with many in this volume that the post-2008 period of crisis management, attempted recoveries and new forms of crisis has been characterized by the continuation of long-established structures of inequality rather than their transformation towards a more equitable set of affairs. What distinguishes this chapter is our focus on the consequences of the intimate connection between increasingly authoritarian modes of governance and highly masculinized norms of competitiveness in the current period. This is producing growing entanglements between state-directed coercion and the household through (for example) enforced austerity measures, which have been leading to job losses in the public sector and more pressure on households through loss of income or even housing evictions. For us, this focus is important because neoliberalism has much more to do with the reorganization of social relations and state formations along unequal and coercive lines than with the creation or development of “free” markets. As a result, our focus as critics of the current politico-economic order should shift to under-explored yet key sites which enable and perpetuate this order. Accordingly, this chapter argues that it is impossible to understand the post-2008 period without a central role being accorded to increasingly authoritarian state practices at a range of scales. Moreover, the coupling of greater capacities for state-directed coercion with highly masculinized norms of competitiveness – such as risk affinity, strong work ethics, liquidity, growth and austerity – constitutes a strategy to displace the effects of crisis into another key site in the political economy, the household. An excellent illustration of these claims can be found in the trajectories of European political economies, especially in the Eurozone, after 2008. After a critical discussion of neoliberalism and the state and how masculine norms are inscribed within (supra)national institutions and (re)produce gendered hierarchies, the chapter then considers the Eurozone crisis across two sections. The first focuses on the rise of more authoritarian forms of governance through the Fiscal Compact, the so-called Sixpack legislation and the Euro-Plus Pact and the gendered nature of this crisis response. The second concentrates on the variegated yet highly significant effects of these developments in two countries, discussing the intensified crisis of social reproduction and possible alternatives to the current politico-economic order. We focus on Spain and Ireland, because they show especially well the processes we seek to highlight. We conclude with reflections on the broader implications of our argument and suggestions for further research.
1. Introduction
Ever since the financial and economic crisis of 2008, the European integration process faces massive challenges, which question the institutional alignment, democratic legitimacy and economic coherence of the European Union. This leaves member states in a situation where they are confronted with the severe socio-economic and democratic implications of the various endeavours targeted at combating the crisis. Firstly, to leverage the immediate impact of the financial, economic and debt crisis and to fulfil the conditions of the newly aligned policy procedures, especially for state finance and the banking sector. Secondly, to establish policy coherence between EU member states in order to overcome rising social and economic asymmetries. Thirdly, processes of de-democratisation in the course of the rise of authoritarian governments and a growing number of extreme right-wing parties gaining momentum across European societies amplify these challenges.
These political and economic developments pose serious problems not only for some member states, but also for the European Union as a whole, since solutions will only be found if the member states agree on a common agenda on how to tackle these issues. Proposals to overcome the consequences of the crisis have been discussed from different approaches in political science, economics and sociology until now (cf. Enderlein and Verdun 2010; Jäger and Springler 2017; Forschungsgruppe Staatsprojekt Europa 2014; Kriesi and Takis 2016; Manow 2018; Mudde 2007; Ryner and Cafruny 2017). What we experience from recent policies is, however, quite the opposite. For example, instead of agreeing on quotas for asylum seekers across and between member states and a fair distribution within them, some member states have massively restricted the amount of refugees or asylum seekers allowed to enter their country at all. Hungary and Poland have concurrently also changed policies in favour of a more presidential or illiberally lead democracy, cutting back the rights of the Supreme Courts and restricting the freedom of the press, as well as public and cultural broadcasting by changing advisory boards in favour of the governing party. Moreover, this has happened in the wake of closed borders and efforts of the respective governments not to support a common refugee agenda in the EU (Bogaards 2018; Osteuropa 2018).
The British citizens voted in favour of leaving the European Union, thus questioning the unity of the European Union as a polity. In times of right-wing populism, extremism, and unsolved social problems of high unemployment and financial recovery in some member states, this is not a discursive rupture exclusive to public European debates, but also a topic concerning the future of the European Union as a whole. It once again raises the question whether the European Union is more than an entity comprised of individual member states with their national political and economic interests or the interests of specific corporate business elites setting the agenda (Horn and Wigger 2016; Ryner and Cafruny 2017).
In this edited volume, we aim to highlight these problems and challenges for the European Union from different theoretical approaches and views on different member states and the supranational polity. This introductory chapter focuses on how the aforementioned perspectives come together to relate aspects of transdisciplinary research and policy-centred approaches in the following chapters. Following this framework, we firstly present the fault lines in the European project resulting from current European policies, and furthermore, we develop theoretical arguments for a transdisciplinary approach and open up the lines of discussion as proposed by the articles in this edited volume.
Noch vor kurzem erschien der Nationalstaat in den internationalen staatstheoretischen Debatten be... more Noch vor kurzem erschien der Nationalstaat in den internationalen staatstheoretischen Debatten bestenfalls als ein Überbleibsel aus vergangenen Zeiten. Neuerdings ist jedoch sein erstaunliches Comeback in den sozialwissenschaftlichen Debatten zu beobachten. Insbesondere im deutschsprachigen Raum gibt es wieder vermehrt staatstheoretisch angeleitete Forschungsprojekte.
Die Beiträge in dem vorgestellten Band fragen nach der Transformation des Staates als Herrschaftsverhältnis und danach, wie Staatskritik heute möglich ist, wie sich die Geschlechterverhältnisse durch den Staat hindurch reproduzieren, wie sich der Staat im Prozess der Globalisierung räumlich restrukturiert, wie der neue Nationalismus beschaffen ist und welche Bedeutung die Debatten der transnationalen Migrationsforschung für eine Theorie des Staates im Postfordismus haben.
This article develops a gendered state-theoretical materialist framework to show how capitalism a... more This article develops a gendered state-theoretical materialist framework to show how capitalism as an economic system and the nation-state reproduce gendered hierarchies on multiple levels. With a focus on the symbolic masculine cultural order and its hegemonic political rationality of governing, the current economic crisis and its effects on gender regimes is discussed more specifically. In a case study on a new economic governance form called ‘Sixpack’ within the European Union, the effects of these policies and their symbolic meanings are highlighted. The article therefore challenges the Varieties of Capitalism literature on gender, arguing that a broader framework of analysis is necessary to capture the intersectional dimensions of domination in capitalism for different subject positions.
Keywords:
State, symbolic order, gender, economic governance, crisis
The state is often described in transition: public spaces are rearranged by private companies, na... more The state is often described in transition: public spaces are rearranged by private companies, national social welfare is being privatized to some extent, and supranational institutions have more influence on national policies. “A view from the kitchen” (Diane Elson) is helpful for understanding the changing dynamics of states and societies because different women are affected by these policies in different and often ambiguous ways: women of the globalized South migrate to the North, creating global care chains, while women in Western industrialized countries are confronted with changing welfare regimes, leaving mainly highly educated women to profit from this situation. This article contributes to feminist debates on economic globalization and state internationalization. Our feminist materialist perspective allows a critical view on dominance and power in “governance”. Thus, the article adds to feminist debates on globalization from the perspective of state transformation and to debates on governance from the perspective of state transformation grounded in gendered social relations.
Keywords: gender, state transformation, feminist materialist state theory, global governance critique, re-masculinization of politics
This article analyzes how gender mainstreaming is discursively redefined in a neoliberal frame wi... more This article analyzes how gender mainstreaming is discursively redefined in a neoliberal frame within the European Employment Strategy, and looks at the effect of this on employment practices in Germany. The focus of the article is on new governance tools such as the open method of coordination (OMC) in the European employment strategy and the implementation of gender mainstreaming in Germany. From a theoretical perspective, following studies on governmentality, the European integration process, with its new governance tools like the OMC, can be interpreted in a way that changes our perspective on governance. The European integration process can be analyzed as changing and regulating the mechanisms of governance with technologies such as knowledge and economically oriented political benchmarks which reframe gender policies such as gender mainstreaming in an activating and individualizing strategy. In looking at gender mainstreaming, therefore, the article deals with discourses and governmental programs as technologies of power which steer policies and governance mechanisms towards neoliberal rationalities and practices, thus highlighting the governmental technologies used to consolidate neoliberal policies.
Keywords: gender mainstreaming; technologies of government; governmentality; European Employment Strategy (EES); open method of coordination (OMC); Germany
Der Artikel analysiert Geschlechterverhältnisse in sozialen Bewegungen und neueren linken Parteie... more Der Artikel analysiert Geschlechterverhältnisse in sozialen Bewegungen und neueren linken Parteien in Spanien infolge der Bewegung 15-M. Während explizit feministische Positionen und Identitäten teils nur zögerlich aufgegriffen wurden, so die These, waren die Organisationsformen der sozialen Bewegungen von „unbewussten“ Feminismen durchdrungen. Eine Politik der ersten Person, inklusive und interaktive Versammlungen sowie Infrastrukturen des Füreinander-Sorge-Tragens ermöglichten es, individuelle Bedürfnisse in kollektive Forderungen zu verwandeln. Alltägliche Krisenerfahrungen wurden dadurch politisiert und die Grenzen zwischen Öffentlichkeit und Privatheit verschoben. Dies führte zu einer vermehrten Partizipation von Frauen an sozialen Bewegungen, ein Effekt, der in neu entstandenen linken Parteien wie Podemos und Wahlplattformen, wenn auch zu einem geringeren Grad, andauerte.
The article analyses gender relations in social movements and new left parties in Spain following the M-15 movement. It argues that while activists have been hesitant to embrace explicit feminist demands and identities, the organisational ‘grammar’ of the protests was permeated by ‘unconscious’ feminisms. First person politics, inclusive and interactive assemblies and care infrastructures transformed individual concerns into collective demands. Experiences of increased vulnerability became political; boundaries between ‘public’ and ‘private’ were redrawn. The effect was a strong role of women during the protests (e.g. in struggles against evictions), which persisted, albeit to a lesser extent, throughout the subsequently emerging new left parties such as Podemos and electoral platforms.
Momentum Quarterly - Zeitschrift für sozialen Fortschritt
In der ersten Ausgabe des Jahres liefern die HerausgeberInnen einen Blick hinter die Kulissen von... more In der ersten Ausgabe des Jahres liefern die HerausgeberInnen einen Blick hinter die Kulissen von Momentum Quarterly und blicken zurück auf das vergangene sowie voraus auf das kommende Jahr.
DESCRIPTION This chapter explores the European integration process from a theoretical perspective... more DESCRIPTION This chapter explores the European integration process from a theoretical perspective following Foucault’s insights on power as governmentality (Foucault 2007, 2008). A governmentality approach investigates the ambivalent and power-laden processes of governing; governmentality scholars focus especially on political rationalities, discursive constructions of norms, knowledge, subject formations and other technologies of government such as expertise (Miller and Rose 2008). In this vein, they describe the process of governing and draw particular attention to the ambivalent material effects of technologies of power needed to govern European or international space (Larner and Walters 2004; Walters and Haahr 2005). Foucault’s main concern was to investigate power as governmentality, i.e. as an art of governing subjects as population and governing political space, as well as an analysis of how political rationalities and technologies of government developed from the 17th centur...
In order to understand the capitalist mode of production, social reproduction within society and ... more In order to understand the capitalist mode of production, social reproduction within society and state transformation during financial and economic crisis, a research focus is needed that encompasses gender and other relations of domination. Lux and Wöhl outline a feminist political economy framework for an analysis of crisis in capitalism that is aware of normative constructions of gender, as well as its symbolic and material reproduction in capitalist societies. Applying the framework to crisis governance in Spain and France, the authors show how different gender regimes respond to the crisis by different policies. They conclude that the crisis has not challenged, but deepened gender inequalities while neoliberal economic governance has been restored.
The global crisis that was sparked by the collapse of Lehman Brothers led many commentators to li... more The global crisis that was sparked by the collapse of Lehman Brothers led many commentators to link the failure of neoliberal policy prescriptions to the dominance of men at the top of economic hierarchies, especially in the finance sector, as Elisabeth Prugl notes in her chapter in this volume of "Scandalous Economics" (2016). We also concur with many in this volume that the post-2008 period of crisis management, attempted recoveries and new forms of crisis has been characterized by the continuation of long-established structures of inequality rather than their transformation towards a more equitable set of affairs. What distinguishes this chapter is our focus on the consequences of the intimate connection between increasingly authoritarian modes of governance and highly masculinized norms of competitiveness in the current period. This is producing growing entanglements between state-directed coercion and the household through (for example) enforced austerity measures, which have been leading to job losses in the public sector and more pressure on households through loss of income or even housing evictions. For us, this focus is important because neoliberalism has much more to do with the reorganization of social relations and state formations along unequal and coercive lines than with the creation or development of “free” markets. As a result, our focus as critics of the current politico-economic order should shift to under-explored yet key sites which enable and perpetuate this order. Accordingly, this chapter argues that it is impossible to understand the post-2008 period without a central role being accorded to increasingly authoritarian state practices at a range of scales. Moreover, the coupling of greater capacities for state-directed coercion with highly masculinized norms of competitiveness – such as risk affinity, strong work ethics, liquidity, growth and austerity – constitutes a strategy to displace the effects of crisis into another key site in the political economy, the household. An excellent illustration of these claims can be found in the trajectories of European political economies, especially in the Eurozone, after 2008. After a critical discussion of neoliberalism and the state and how masculine norms are inscribed within (supra)national institutions and (re)produce gendered hierarchies, the chapter then considers the Eurozone crisis across two sections. The first focuses on the rise of more authoritarian forms of governance through the Fiscal Compact, the so-called Sixpack legislation and the Euro-Plus Pact and the gendered nature of this crisis response. The second concentrates on the variegated yet highly significant effects of these developments in two countries, discussing the intensified crisis of social reproduction and possible alternatives to the current politico-economic order. We focus on Spain and Ireland, because they show especially well the processes we seek to highlight. We conclude with reflections on the broader implications of our argument and suggestions for further research.
1. Introduction
Ever since the financial and economic crisis of 2008, the European integration process faces massive challenges, which question the institutional alignment, democratic legitimacy and economic coherence of the European Union. This leaves member states in a situation where they are confronted with the severe socio-economic and democratic implications of the various endeavours targeted at combating the crisis. Firstly, to leverage the immediate impact of the financial, economic and debt crisis and to fulfil the conditions of the newly aligned policy procedures, especially for state finance and the banking sector. Secondly, to establish policy coherence between EU member states in order to overcome rising social and economic asymmetries. Thirdly, processes of de-democratisation in the course of the rise of authoritarian governments and a growing number of extreme right-wing parties gaining momentum across European societies amplify these challenges.
These political and economic developments pose serious problems not only for some member states, but also for the European Union as a whole, since solutions will only be found if the member states agree on a common agenda on how to tackle these issues. Proposals to overcome the consequences of the crisis have been discussed from different approaches in political science, economics and sociology until now (cf. Enderlein and Verdun 2010; Jäger and Springler 2017; Forschungsgruppe Staatsprojekt Europa 2014; Kriesi and Takis 2016; Manow 2018; Mudde 2007; Ryner and Cafruny 2017). What we experience from recent policies is, however, quite the opposite. For example, instead of agreeing on quotas for asylum seekers across and between member states and a fair distribution within them, some member states have massively restricted the amount of refugees or asylum seekers allowed to enter their country at all. Hungary and Poland have concurrently also changed policies in favour of a more presidential or illiberally lead democracy, cutting back the rights of the Supreme Courts and restricting the freedom of the press, as well as public and cultural broadcasting by changing advisory boards in favour of the governing party. Moreover, this has happened in the wake of closed borders and efforts of the respective governments not to support a common refugee agenda in the EU (Bogaards 2018; Osteuropa 2018).
The British citizens voted in favour of leaving the European Union, thus questioning the unity of the European Union as a polity. In times of right-wing populism, extremism, and unsolved social problems of high unemployment and financial recovery in some member states, this is not a discursive rupture exclusive to public European debates, but also a topic concerning the future of the European Union as a whole. It once again raises the question whether the European Union is more than an entity comprised of individual member states with their national political and economic interests or the interests of specific corporate business elites setting the agenda (Horn and Wigger 2016; Ryner and Cafruny 2017).
In this edited volume, we aim to highlight these problems and challenges for the European Union from different theoretical approaches and views on different member states and the supranational polity. This introductory chapter focuses on how the aforementioned perspectives come together to relate aspects of transdisciplinary research and policy-centred approaches in the following chapters. Following this framework, we firstly present the fault lines in the European project resulting from current European policies, and furthermore, we develop theoretical arguments for a transdisciplinary approach and open up the lines of discussion as proposed by the articles in this edited volume.
Noch vor kurzem erschien der Nationalstaat in den internationalen staatstheoretischen Debatten be... more Noch vor kurzem erschien der Nationalstaat in den internationalen staatstheoretischen Debatten bestenfalls als ein Überbleibsel aus vergangenen Zeiten. Neuerdings ist jedoch sein erstaunliches Comeback in den sozialwissenschaftlichen Debatten zu beobachten. Insbesondere im deutschsprachigen Raum gibt es wieder vermehrt staatstheoretisch angeleitete Forschungsprojekte.
Die Beiträge in dem vorgestellten Band fragen nach der Transformation des Staates als Herrschaftsverhältnis und danach, wie Staatskritik heute möglich ist, wie sich die Geschlechterverhältnisse durch den Staat hindurch reproduzieren, wie sich der Staat im Prozess der Globalisierung räumlich restrukturiert, wie der neue Nationalismus beschaffen ist und welche Bedeutung die Debatten der transnationalen Migrationsforschung für eine Theorie des Staates im Postfordismus haben.
This article develops a gendered state-theoretical materialist framework to show how capitalism a... more This article develops a gendered state-theoretical materialist framework to show how capitalism as an economic system and the nation-state reproduce gendered hierarchies on multiple levels. With a focus on the symbolic masculine cultural order and its hegemonic political rationality of governing, the current economic crisis and its effects on gender regimes is discussed more specifically. In a case study on a new economic governance form called ‘Sixpack’ within the European Union, the effects of these policies and their symbolic meanings are highlighted. The article therefore challenges the Varieties of Capitalism literature on gender, arguing that a broader framework of analysis is necessary to capture the intersectional dimensions of domination in capitalism for different subject positions.
Keywords:
State, symbolic order, gender, economic governance, crisis
The state is often described in transition: public spaces are rearranged by private companies, na... more The state is often described in transition: public spaces are rearranged by private companies, national social welfare is being privatized to some extent, and supranational institutions have more influence on national policies. “A view from the kitchen” (Diane Elson) is helpful for understanding the changing dynamics of states and societies because different women are affected by these policies in different and often ambiguous ways: women of the globalized South migrate to the North, creating global care chains, while women in Western industrialized countries are confronted with changing welfare regimes, leaving mainly highly educated women to profit from this situation. This article contributes to feminist debates on economic globalization and state internationalization. Our feminist materialist perspective allows a critical view on dominance and power in “governance”. Thus, the article adds to feminist debates on globalization from the perspective of state transformation and to debates on governance from the perspective of state transformation grounded in gendered social relations.
Keywords: gender, state transformation, feminist materialist state theory, global governance critique, re-masculinization of politics
This article analyzes how gender mainstreaming is discursively redefined in a neoliberal frame wi... more This article analyzes how gender mainstreaming is discursively redefined in a neoliberal frame within the European Employment Strategy, and looks at the effect of this on employment practices in Germany. The focus of the article is on new governance tools such as the open method of coordination (OMC) in the European employment strategy and the implementation of gender mainstreaming in Germany. From a theoretical perspective, following studies on governmentality, the European integration process, with its new governance tools like the OMC, can be interpreted in a way that changes our perspective on governance. The European integration process can be analyzed as changing and regulating the mechanisms of governance with technologies such as knowledge and economically oriented political benchmarks which reframe gender policies such as gender mainstreaming in an activating and individualizing strategy. In looking at gender mainstreaming, therefore, the article deals with discourses and governmental programs as technologies of power which steer policies and governance mechanisms towards neoliberal rationalities and practices, thus highlighting the governmental technologies used to consolidate neoliberal policies.
Keywords: gender mainstreaming; technologies of government; governmentality; European Employment Strategy (EES); open method of coordination (OMC); Germany
Der Artikel analysiert Geschlechterverhältnisse in sozialen Bewegungen und neueren linken Parteie... more Der Artikel analysiert Geschlechterverhältnisse in sozialen Bewegungen und neueren linken Parteien in Spanien infolge der Bewegung 15-M. Während explizit feministische Positionen und Identitäten teils nur zögerlich aufgegriffen wurden, so die These, waren die Organisationsformen der sozialen Bewegungen von „unbewussten“ Feminismen durchdrungen. Eine Politik der ersten Person, inklusive und interaktive Versammlungen sowie Infrastrukturen des Füreinander-Sorge-Tragens ermöglichten es, individuelle Bedürfnisse in kollektive Forderungen zu verwandeln. Alltägliche Krisenerfahrungen wurden dadurch politisiert und die Grenzen zwischen Öffentlichkeit und Privatheit verschoben. Dies führte zu einer vermehrten Partizipation von Frauen an sozialen Bewegungen, ein Effekt, der in neu entstandenen linken Parteien wie Podemos und Wahlplattformen, wenn auch zu einem geringeren Grad, andauerte.
The article analyses gender relations in social movements and new left parties in Spain following the M-15 movement. It argues that while activists have been hesitant to embrace explicit feminist demands and identities, the organisational ‘grammar’ of the protests was permeated by ‘unconscious’ feminisms. First person politics, inclusive and interactive assemblies and care infrastructures transformed individual concerns into collective demands. Experiences of increased vulnerability became political; boundaries between ‘public’ and ‘private’ were redrawn. The effect was a strong role of women during the protests (e.g. in struggles against evictions), which persisted, albeit to a lesser extent, throughout the subsequently emerging new left parties such as Podemos and electoral platforms.
Momentum Quarterly - Zeitschrift für sozialen Fortschritt
In der ersten Ausgabe des Jahres liefern die HerausgeberInnen einen Blick hinter die Kulissen von... more In der ersten Ausgabe des Jahres liefern die HerausgeberInnen einen Blick hinter die Kulissen von Momentum Quarterly und blicken zurück auf das vergangene sowie voraus auf das kommende Jahr.
Economic and monetary integration have been the main political projects in the integration proces... more Economic and monetary integration have been the main political projects in the integration process of the European Union. Only since 1997 with the Treaty of Amsterdam have explicit gender concerns been framed in the polity of the EU and in the subsequent process of the Lisbon Strategy. Even though gender issues were considered in specific policy fields through directives in the 1980's and 1990's, a broader framework for gender equality has only been institutionalized through the implementation of gender mainstreaming and the introduction of the OMC to achieve the goals of the Lisbon Strategy: competitiveness, social cohesion and full employment. The instrument for achieving this in the member states especially in the welfare sectors of employment is the OMC. The paper seeks to show how this form of governance is a new rationality and technology of governance to harmonize European space. Using Foucaults concept of governmentality, the OMC can be described as a new rationality...
Uploads
For us, this focus is important because neoliberalism has much more to do with the reorganization of social relations and state formations along unequal and coercive lines than with the creation or development of “free” markets. As a result, our focus as critics of the current politico-economic order should shift to under-explored yet key sites which enable and perpetuate this order. Accordingly, this chapter argues that it is impossible to understand the post-2008 period without a central role being accorded to increasingly authoritarian state practices at a range of scales. Moreover, the coupling of greater capacities for state-directed coercion with highly masculinized norms of competitiveness – such as risk affinity, strong work ethics, liquidity, growth and austerity – constitutes a strategy to displace the effects of crisis into another key site in the political economy, the household. An excellent illustration of these claims can be found in the trajectories of European political economies, especially in the Eurozone, after 2008.
After a critical discussion of neoliberalism and the state and how masculine norms are inscribed within (supra)national institutions and (re)produce gendered hierarchies, the chapter then considers the Eurozone crisis across two sections. The first focuses on the rise of more authoritarian forms of governance through the Fiscal Compact, the so-called Sixpack legislation and the Euro-Plus Pact and the gendered nature of this crisis response. The second concentrates on the variegated yet highly significant effects of these developments in two countries, discussing the intensified crisis of social reproduction and possible alternatives to the current politico-economic order. We focus on Spain and Ireland, because they show especially well the processes we seek to highlight. We conclude with reflections on the broader implications of our argument and suggestions for further research.
1. Introduction
Ever since the financial and economic crisis of 2008, the European integration process faces massive challenges, which question the institutional alignment, democratic legitimacy and economic coherence of the European Union. This leaves member states in a situation where they are confronted with the severe socio-economic and democratic implications of the various endeavours targeted at combating the crisis. Firstly, to leverage the immediate impact of the financial, economic and debt crisis and to fulfil the conditions of the newly aligned policy procedures, especially for state finance and the banking sector. Secondly, to establish policy coherence between EU member states in order to overcome rising social and economic asymmetries. Thirdly, processes of de-democratisation in the course of the rise of authoritarian governments and a growing number of extreme right-wing parties gaining momentum across European societies amplify these challenges.
These political and economic developments pose serious problems not only for some member states, but also for the European Union as a whole, since solutions will only be found if the member states agree on a common agenda on how to tackle these issues. Proposals to overcome the consequences of the crisis have been discussed from different approaches in political science, economics and sociology until now (cf. Enderlein and Verdun 2010; Jäger and Springler 2017; Forschungsgruppe Staatsprojekt Europa 2014; Kriesi and Takis 2016; Manow 2018; Mudde 2007; Ryner and Cafruny 2017). What we experience from recent policies is, however, quite the opposite. For example, instead of agreeing on quotas for asylum seekers across and between member states and a fair distribution within them, some member states have massively restricted the amount of refugees or asylum seekers allowed to enter their country at all. Hungary and Poland have concurrently also changed policies in favour of a more presidential or illiberally lead democracy, cutting back the rights of the Supreme Courts and restricting the freedom of the press, as well as public and cultural broadcasting by changing advisory boards in favour of the governing party. Moreover, this has happened in the wake of closed borders and efforts of the respective governments not to support a common refugee agenda in the EU (Bogaards 2018; Osteuropa 2018).
The British citizens voted in favour of leaving the European Union, thus questioning the unity of the European Union as a polity. In times of right-wing populism, extremism, and unsolved social problems of high unemployment and financial recovery in some member states, this is not a discursive rupture exclusive to public European debates, but also a topic concerning the future of the European Union as a whole. It once again raises the question whether the European Union is more than an entity comprised of individual member states with their national political and economic interests or the interests of specific corporate business elites setting the agenda (Horn and Wigger 2016; Ryner and Cafruny 2017).
In this edited volume, we aim to highlight these problems and challenges for the European Union from different theoretical approaches and views on different member states and the supranational polity. This introductory chapter focuses on how the aforementioned perspectives come together to relate aspects of transdisciplinary research and policy-centred approaches in the following chapters. Following this framework, we firstly present the fault lines in the European project resulting from current European policies, and furthermore, we develop theoretical arguments for a transdisciplinary approach and open up the lines of discussion as proposed by the articles in this edited volume.
Die Beiträge in dem vorgestellten Band fragen nach der Transformation des Staates als Herrschaftsverhältnis und danach, wie Staatskritik heute möglich ist, wie sich die Geschlechterverhältnisse durch den Staat hindurch reproduzieren, wie sich der Staat im Prozess der Globalisierung räumlich restrukturiert, wie der neue Nationalismus beschaffen ist und welche Bedeutung die Debatten der transnationalen Migrationsforschung für eine Theorie des Staates im Postfordismus haben.
Keywords:
State, symbolic order, gender, economic governance, crisis
Keywords: gender, state transformation, feminist materialist state theory, global governance critique, re-masculinization of politics
Keywords: gender mainstreaming; technologies of government; governmentality; European Employment Strategy (EES); open method of coordination (OMC); Germany
The article analyses gender relations in social movements and new left parties in Spain following the M-15 movement. It argues that while activists have been hesitant to embrace explicit feminist demands and identities, the organisational ‘grammar’ of the protests was permeated by ‘unconscious’ feminisms. First person politics, inclusive and interactive assemblies and care infrastructures transformed individual concerns into collective demands. Experiences of increased vulnerability became political; boundaries between ‘public’ and ‘private’ were redrawn. The effect was a strong role of women during the protests (e.g. in struggles against evictions), which persisted, albeit to a lesser extent, throughout the subsequently emerging new left parties such as Podemos and electoral platforms.
For us, this focus is important because neoliberalism has much more to do with the reorganization of social relations and state formations along unequal and coercive lines than with the creation or development of “free” markets. As a result, our focus as critics of the current politico-economic order should shift to under-explored yet key sites which enable and perpetuate this order. Accordingly, this chapter argues that it is impossible to understand the post-2008 period without a central role being accorded to increasingly authoritarian state practices at a range of scales. Moreover, the coupling of greater capacities for state-directed coercion with highly masculinized norms of competitiveness – such as risk affinity, strong work ethics, liquidity, growth and austerity – constitutes a strategy to displace the effects of crisis into another key site in the political economy, the household. An excellent illustration of these claims can be found in the trajectories of European political economies, especially in the Eurozone, after 2008.
After a critical discussion of neoliberalism and the state and how masculine norms are inscribed within (supra)national institutions and (re)produce gendered hierarchies, the chapter then considers the Eurozone crisis across two sections. The first focuses on the rise of more authoritarian forms of governance through the Fiscal Compact, the so-called Sixpack legislation and the Euro-Plus Pact and the gendered nature of this crisis response. The second concentrates on the variegated yet highly significant effects of these developments in two countries, discussing the intensified crisis of social reproduction and possible alternatives to the current politico-economic order. We focus on Spain and Ireland, because they show especially well the processes we seek to highlight. We conclude with reflections on the broader implications of our argument and suggestions for further research.
1. Introduction
Ever since the financial and economic crisis of 2008, the European integration process faces massive challenges, which question the institutional alignment, democratic legitimacy and economic coherence of the European Union. This leaves member states in a situation where they are confronted with the severe socio-economic and democratic implications of the various endeavours targeted at combating the crisis. Firstly, to leverage the immediate impact of the financial, economic and debt crisis and to fulfil the conditions of the newly aligned policy procedures, especially for state finance and the banking sector. Secondly, to establish policy coherence between EU member states in order to overcome rising social and economic asymmetries. Thirdly, processes of de-democratisation in the course of the rise of authoritarian governments and a growing number of extreme right-wing parties gaining momentum across European societies amplify these challenges.
These political and economic developments pose serious problems not only for some member states, but also for the European Union as a whole, since solutions will only be found if the member states agree on a common agenda on how to tackle these issues. Proposals to overcome the consequences of the crisis have been discussed from different approaches in political science, economics and sociology until now (cf. Enderlein and Verdun 2010; Jäger and Springler 2017; Forschungsgruppe Staatsprojekt Europa 2014; Kriesi and Takis 2016; Manow 2018; Mudde 2007; Ryner and Cafruny 2017). What we experience from recent policies is, however, quite the opposite. For example, instead of agreeing on quotas for asylum seekers across and between member states and a fair distribution within them, some member states have massively restricted the amount of refugees or asylum seekers allowed to enter their country at all. Hungary and Poland have concurrently also changed policies in favour of a more presidential or illiberally lead democracy, cutting back the rights of the Supreme Courts and restricting the freedom of the press, as well as public and cultural broadcasting by changing advisory boards in favour of the governing party. Moreover, this has happened in the wake of closed borders and efforts of the respective governments not to support a common refugee agenda in the EU (Bogaards 2018; Osteuropa 2018).
The British citizens voted in favour of leaving the European Union, thus questioning the unity of the European Union as a polity. In times of right-wing populism, extremism, and unsolved social problems of high unemployment and financial recovery in some member states, this is not a discursive rupture exclusive to public European debates, but also a topic concerning the future of the European Union as a whole. It once again raises the question whether the European Union is more than an entity comprised of individual member states with their national political and economic interests or the interests of specific corporate business elites setting the agenda (Horn and Wigger 2016; Ryner and Cafruny 2017).
In this edited volume, we aim to highlight these problems and challenges for the European Union from different theoretical approaches and views on different member states and the supranational polity. This introductory chapter focuses on how the aforementioned perspectives come together to relate aspects of transdisciplinary research and policy-centred approaches in the following chapters. Following this framework, we firstly present the fault lines in the European project resulting from current European policies, and furthermore, we develop theoretical arguments for a transdisciplinary approach and open up the lines of discussion as proposed by the articles in this edited volume.
Die Beiträge in dem vorgestellten Band fragen nach der Transformation des Staates als Herrschaftsverhältnis und danach, wie Staatskritik heute möglich ist, wie sich die Geschlechterverhältnisse durch den Staat hindurch reproduzieren, wie sich der Staat im Prozess der Globalisierung räumlich restrukturiert, wie der neue Nationalismus beschaffen ist und welche Bedeutung die Debatten der transnationalen Migrationsforschung für eine Theorie des Staates im Postfordismus haben.
Keywords:
State, symbolic order, gender, economic governance, crisis
Keywords: gender, state transformation, feminist materialist state theory, global governance critique, re-masculinization of politics
Keywords: gender mainstreaming; technologies of government; governmentality; European Employment Strategy (EES); open method of coordination (OMC); Germany
The article analyses gender relations in social movements and new left parties in Spain following the M-15 movement. It argues that while activists have been hesitant to embrace explicit feminist demands and identities, the organisational ‘grammar’ of the protests was permeated by ‘unconscious’ feminisms. First person politics, inclusive and interactive assemblies and care infrastructures transformed individual concerns into collective demands. Experiences of increased vulnerability became political; boundaries between ‘public’ and ‘private’ were redrawn. The effect was a strong role of women during the protests (e.g. in struggles against evictions), which persisted, albeit to a lesser extent, throughout the subsequently emerging new left parties such as Podemos and electoral platforms.