Social investment ideas are increasingly permeating social and care policy-making in Latin Americ... more Social investment ideas are increasingly permeating social and care policy-making in Latin America. In this article, I analyse a variety of instruments which have been used to ‘invest in children’ across a range of Latin American countries to then zoom in on Chile, where early childhood education and care have attained a prominent place on the welfare agenda in recent years. This policy interest materialised in ‘Chile Grows With You’, an integrated child development strategy whose title resonates strongly with the global narrative on social investment. Engaging with the programme's aim of creating ‘equal opportunities from the cradle’, I discuss the transformative potential and the limitations of childcare service expansion in a highly unequal context.
Global Variations in the Political and Social Economy of Care, 2012
1. Introduction: Global Variations in the Political and Social Economy of Care: Worlds Apart? Sha... more 1. Introduction: Global Variations in the Political and Social Economy of Care: Worlds Apart? Shahra Razavi and Silke Staab Section I: Care's Place Re-Imagined 2. Democratic Care Politics in an Age of Limits Joan Tronto Section II: Shaping the Policy Agenda: Care in Advanced Industrialized Economies 3. Advanced Economy, Modern Welfare State and Traditional Care Regimes: The Case of Switzerland Mascha Madorin, Brigitte Schnegg and Nadia Baghdadi 4. The Struggle Against Familialism: Reconfiguring the Care Diamond in Japan Emiko Ochiai, Aya Abe, Takafumi Uzuhashi, Yuko Tamiya and Masato Shikata 5. The Boss, the Worker, His Wife, and No Babies: South Korean Political and Social Economy of Care in a Context of Institutional Rigidities Ito Peng Section III: Different Worlds? The Challenge of Care in a Development Context 6. Beyond Maternalism? The Political and Social Organization of Childcare in Argentina Valeria Esquivel and Eleonor Faur 7. The Limits of Family and Community Care: Challenges for Public Policy in Nicaragua Juliana Martinez-Franzoni and Koen Voorend 8. Care in South Africa: A Legacy of Family Disruption Debbie Budlender and Francie Lund 9. Unpaid and Overstretched: Coping with HIV & AIDS in Tanzania Debbie Budlender and Ruth Meena 10. Between the State, Market, and Family: Structures, Policies, and Practices of Care in India Rajni Palriwala and N. Neetha Section IV: The Politics of Care 'Going Public': Actors and Institutions 11. Claims and Frames in the Making of Care Policies Fiona Williams 12. Harmonizing Global Care Policy? Care and the Commission on the Status of Women Kate Bedford Section V: Global Care Chains: The Transnational Aspects of Care 13. The Globalisation of Paid Care Labour Migration: Dynamics, Impacts and Policy Nicola Yeates
ABSTRACTBecause gender equality actors rarely have sufficient power to create new institutions, t... more ABSTRACTBecause gender equality actors rarely have sufficient power to create new institutions, this article asks how they can achieve positive gender change in constrained circumstances when the creation of new rules is not possible. Building on a feminist institutionalist approach to analyzing gendered institutional dynamics, power, and resistance, we open the “black box” of one executive: Michelle Bachelet’s first presidency in Chile (2006–10). Using theory-guided process tracing and primarily qualitative data, we examine key reforms in three policy areas—health, pensions, and childcare—that were central to Bachelet’s first program. By analyzing how efforts to incorporate positive gender change fared differently in each area, this study shows how far utilizing, subverting, or converting existing rules—more “hidden” forms of change, often away from legislatures—can be effective, if limited, strategies when gender equality advocates face resistance.
Early Childhood and Development Work Theories, Policies, and Practices Edited by Anne Trine Kjørholt and Helen Penn, 2018
Early childhood interventions are frequently framed as investments with important benefits in ter... more Early childhood interventions are frequently framed as investments with important benefits in terms of children’s health, nutrition, cognitive development and school-readiness. Gender equality and the rights of adult women, as unpaid family caregivers whose lives, by default, must accommodate child-centered interventions, and as childcare workers staffing such programs, are often given a short shrift in such narratives. At the global level, Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development urges us to think about these issues in an integrated fashion by recognizing the universal and interrelated nature of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their related targets, including those on unpaid care, early childhood education and decent work for women and men. Yet, policies to achieve these goals are often discussed in separate epistemic communities with different approaches to early childhood education and care (ECEC). Whether ECEC is framed as a ‘cost-effective’ investment or a social right, whether it is seen mainly as a tool for improving child development or also an alternative to family care affect program design and implementation with important implications for women’s rights as paid and unpaid caregivers. Although these divides are pervasive at both the global and at the national level, the chapter shows that countries can find pathways for strengthening rights-based and gender-responsive ECEC services drawing on case studies from Chile, Ecuador and Tamil Nadu (India). Rather than providing specific policy blueprints, global actors should support processes of debate, problem-solving and experimentation that create context-specific, nationally owned solutions aimed at the progressive realization of rights for both women and children.
This article explores the influence of religious actors on the elaboration of two public policies... more This article explores the influence of religious actors on the elaboration of two public policies that are key to the advancement of women's rights and have long formed part of the women's movement's agenda in Chile: the introduction of sexual education in secondary schools in the 1990s and the distribution of emergency contraception in the 2000s. Our analysis of how different actors—from a variety of ideological and power positions—have influenced the two policy debates suggests that their discourses and strategies are highly contingent on the political environment. While conservative religious forces retain an enormous capacity to hinder policy making and implementation in the arena of family and sexuality, the government's determination to confront such interference seems to have grown in a context of fewer authoritarian enclaves, a more pluralist society and a strong sexual and reproductive rights movement. The diversification of religious positions on issues of family and sexuality has also affected the room for manoeuvre in the policy arena.
Social investment ideas are increasingly permeating social and care policy-making in Latin Americ... more Social investment ideas are increasingly permeating social and care policy-making in Latin America. In this article, I analyse a variety of instruments which have been used to ‘invest in children’ across a range of Latin American countries to then zoom in on Chile, where early childhood education and care have attained a prominent place on the welfare agenda in recent years. This policy interest materialised in ‘Chile Grows With You’, an integrated child development strategy whose title resonates strongly with the global narrative on social investment. Engaging with the programme's aim of creating ‘equal opportunities from the cradle’, I discuss the transformative potential and the limitations of childcare service expansion in a highly unequal context.
Global Variations in the Political and Social Economy of Care, 2012
1. Introduction: Global Variations in the Political and Social Economy of Care: Worlds Apart? Sha... more 1. Introduction: Global Variations in the Political and Social Economy of Care: Worlds Apart? Shahra Razavi and Silke Staab Section I: Care's Place Re-Imagined 2. Democratic Care Politics in an Age of Limits Joan Tronto Section II: Shaping the Policy Agenda: Care in Advanced Industrialized Economies 3. Advanced Economy, Modern Welfare State and Traditional Care Regimes: The Case of Switzerland Mascha Madorin, Brigitte Schnegg and Nadia Baghdadi 4. The Struggle Against Familialism: Reconfiguring the Care Diamond in Japan Emiko Ochiai, Aya Abe, Takafumi Uzuhashi, Yuko Tamiya and Masato Shikata 5. The Boss, the Worker, His Wife, and No Babies: South Korean Political and Social Economy of Care in a Context of Institutional Rigidities Ito Peng Section III: Different Worlds? The Challenge of Care in a Development Context 6. Beyond Maternalism? The Political and Social Organization of Childcare in Argentina Valeria Esquivel and Eleonor Faur 7. The Limits of Family and Community Care: Challenges for Public Policy in Nicaragua Juliana Martinez-Franzoni and Koen Voorend 8. Care in South Africa: A Legacy of Family Disruption Debbie Budlender and Francie Lund 9. Unpaid and Overstretched: Coping with HIV & AIDS in Tanzania Debbie Budlender and Ruth Meena 10. Between the State, Market, and Family: Structures, Policies, and Practices of Care in India Rajni Palriwala and N. Neetha Section IV: The Politics of Care 'Going Public': Actors and Institutions 11. Claims and Frames in the Making of Care Policies Fiona Williams 12. Harmonizing Global Care Policy? Care and the Commission on the Status of Women Kate Bedford Section V: Global Care Chains: The Transnational Aspects of Care 13. The Globalisation of Paid Care Labour Migration: Dynamics, Impacts and Policy Nicola Yeates
ABSTRACTBecause gender equality actors rarely have sufficient power to create new institutions, t... more ABSTRACTBecause gender equality actors rarely have sufficient power to create new institutions, this article asks how they can achieve positive gender change in constrained circumstances when the creation of new rules is not possible. Building on a feminist institutionalist approach to analyzing gendered institutional dynamics, power, and resistance, we open the “black box” of one executive: Michelle Bachelet’s first presidency in Chile (2006–10). Using theory-guided process tracing and primarily qualitative data, we examine key reforms in three policy areas—health, pensions, and childcare—that were central to Bachelet’s first program. By analyzing how efforts to incorporate positive gender change fared differently in each area, this study shows how far utilizing, subverting, or converting existing rules—more “hidden” forms of change, often away from legislatures—can be effective, if limited, strategies when gender equality advocates face resistance.
Early Childhood and Development Work Theories, Policies, and Practices Edited by Anne Trine Kjørholt and Helen Penn, 2018
Early childhood interventions are frequently framed as investments with important benefits in ter... more Early childhood interventions are frequently framed as investments with important benefits in terms of children’s health, nutrition, cognitive development and school-readiness. Gender equality and the rights of adult women, as unpaid family caregivers whose lives, by default, must accommodate child-centered interventions, and as childcare workers staffing such programs, are often given a short shrift in such narratives. At the global level, Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development urges us to think about these issues in an integrated fashion by recognizing the universal and interrelated nature of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their related targets, including those on unpaid care, early childhood education and decent work for women and men. Yet, policies to achieve these goals are often discussed in separate epistemic communities with different approaches to early childhood education and care (ECEC). Whether ECEC is framed as a ‘cost-effective’ investment or a social right, whether it is seen mainly as a tool for improving child development or also an alternative to family care affect program design and implementation with important implications for women’s rights as paid and unpaid caregivers. Although these divides are pervasive at both the global and at the national level, the chapter shows that countries can find pathways for strengthening rights-based and gender-responsive ECEC services drawing on case studies from Chile, Ecuador and Tamil Nadu (India). Rather than providing specific policy blueprints, global actors should support processes of debate, problem-solving and experimentation that create context-specific, nationally owned solutions aimed at the progressive realization of rights for both women and children.
This article explores the influence of religious actors on the elaboration of two public policies... more This article explores the influence of religious actors on the elaboration of two public policies that are key to the advancement of women's rights and have long formed part of the women's movement's agenda in Chile: the introduction of sexual education in secondary schools in the 1990s and the distribution of emergency contraception in the 2000s. Our analysis of how different actors—from a variety of ideological and power positions—have influenced the two policy debates suggests that their discourses and strategies are highly contingent on the political environment. While conservative religious forces retain an enormous capacity to hinder policy making and implementation in the arena of family and sexuality, the government's determination to confront such interference seems to have grown in a context of fewer authoritarian enclaves, a more pluralist society and a strong sexual and reproductive rights movement. The diversification of religious positions on issues of family and sexuality has also affected the room for manoeuvre in the policy arena.
This book explores recent social policy reforms and innovations in Chile. Focusing on four major ... more This book explores recent social policy reforms and innovations in Chile. Focusing on four major reform episodes — health, pensions, childcare, and maternity leave — it unveils the complex interplay of factors that have shaped the successes and failures of actors pursuing positive gender change in social policy. It shows that even in highly constrained settings positive gender change is possible, but that its scope and quality are bound to vary in response to sector-specific institutional constraints and opportunities.
A partir de un análisis de los avances y desafíos pendientes de las mujeres en el ámbito económic... more A partir de un análisis de los avances y desafíos pendientes de las mujeres en el ámbito económico a lo largo de un cuarto de siglo (1990-2015), este informe propone estrategias clave para evitar retrocesos, superar los obstáculos y avanzar en el empoderamiento económico de las mujeres en la región. Los avances registrados a lo largo de las ultimas dos décadas son indiscutibles; pero también son innegables las persistentes brechas no solamente entre mujeres y hombres, sino entre las mujeres mismas. Como muestra este informe, tanto las conquistas como los obstáculos al empoderamiento económico de las mujeres reflejan las profundas desigualdades socioeconómicas características de esta región, las cuales se agudizan con algunas dinámicas familiares y con patrones patriarcales y violentos. Estas desigualdades —a su vez fuertemente influenciadas por las diferencias geográficas y de origen étnico— son obstáculos que deben superarse con el fin de lograr el empoderamiento económico de todas las mujeres.
Progress of the World's Women is UN Women's flagship report. It tracks progress on gender equalit... more Progress of the World's Women is UN Women's flagship report. It tracks progress on gender equality around the world, with each edition focusing on a particular theme. The 2015-2016 report is about women's economic and social rights, with chapters on paid and unpaid work; social policies; and macroeconomic policies. It also develops a conceptual framework for understanding substantive equality, looking at how it can be applied to policymaking.
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