Books and book chapters by Maxime Forest
Queer Politics Series, Palgrave, 2017
This book provides a comparative, neo-institutionalist approach to the different factors impactin... more This book provides a comparative, neo-institutionalist approach to the different factors impacting state adoption of—or refusal to adopt—same-sex marriage laws. The now twenty-one countries where lesbians and gay men can legally marry include recent or longstanding democracies, republics and parliamentary monarchies, and unitary and federal states. They all reflect different positions with respect to religion and the cultural foundations of the nation. Countries opposed to such legalization, and those having taken measures in recent years to legally reinforce the heterosexual fundaments of marriage, present a similar diversity. This diversity, in a globalized context where the idea of same-sex marriage has become integral to claims for LGBTI equality and indeed LGBTI human rights, gives rise to the following question: which factors contribute to institutionalizing same-sex marriage?
The analytical framework used for exploring these factors in this book is neo-institutionalism. Through three neo-institutionalist lenses—historical, sociological and discursive—contributors investigate two aspects of the processes of adoption or opposition of equal recognition of same-sex partnerships. Firstly, they reveal how claims by LGBTIQ movements are being framed politically and brought to parliamentary politics. Secondly, they explore the ways in which same-sex marriage becomes institutionalized (or resisted) through legal and societal norms and practices. Although it adopts neo-institutionalism as its main theoretical framework, the book incorporates a broad range of perspectives, including scholarship on social movements, LGBTI rights, heterosexuality and social norms, and gender and politics.
The Politics of Feminist Knowledge Transfer. Gender Training and Gender Expertise, 2016
The Politics of Feminist Knowledge Transfer draws together analytical work on gender training and... more The Politics of Feminist Knowledge Transfer draws together analytical work on gender training and gender expertise. Its chapters critically reflect on the politics of feminist knowledge transfer, understood as an inherently political, dynamic and contested process, the overall aim of which is to transform gendered power relations in pursuit of more equal societies, workplaces, and policies. At its core, the work explores the relationship between gender expertise, gender training, and broader processes of feminist transformation arising from knowledge transfer activities. Examining these in a reflective way, the book brings a primarily practice-based debate into the academic arena. With contributions from authors of diverse backgrounds, including academics, practitioners and representatives of gender training institutions, the editors combine a focus on gender expertise and gender training, with more theory-focused chapters.
The SAGE Handbook of Research Management , Dingwall R. and McDonnell M. B. (eds.), Sage Publishers, 2015
Chapter on Integrating Gender and Diversity co-authored with Lut Mergaert and included to The Han... more Chapter on Integrating Gender and Diversity co-authored with Lut Mergaert and included to The Handbook of Research Management, a unique tool for the newly promoted research leader. Larger-scale projects are becoming more common throughout the social sciences and humanities, housed in centres, institutes and programmes. Talented researchers find themselves faced with new challenges to act as managers and leaders rather than as individual scholars. They are responsible for the careers and professional development of others, and for managing interactions with university administrations and external stakeholders. Although many scientific and technological disciplines have long been organized in this way, few resources have been created to help new leaders understand their roles and responsibilities and to reflect on their practice. This Handbook has been created by the combined experience of a leading social scientist and a chief executive of a major international research development institution and funder. The editors have recruited a truly global team of contributors to write about the challenges they have encountered in the course of their careers, and to provoke readers to think about how they might respond within their own contexts. This book will be a standard work of reference for new research leaders, in any discipline or country, looking for help and inspiration. The editorial commentaries extend its potential use in support of training events or workshops where groups of new leaders can come together and explore the issues that are confronting them.
El libro aborda, desde una mirada interdisciplinar, algunos de los conceptos básicos en las polít... more El libro aborda, desde una mirada interdisciplinar, algunos de los conceptos básicos en las políticas de género y en los procesos relacionados con la operacionalización de algunas medidas y políticas relacionadas con la igualdad entre mujeres y hombres. La voluntad y el objetivo es precisar conceptos, profundizar en tradiciones, des-problematizar temas, analizar diferentes procesos, realizar un estudio comparativo y de evolución; resaltar el papel de actores clave, profundizar en como se categorizan algunos temas y situaciones. Entrar en el detalle de diferentes procesos, en cuanto al desarrollo y aplicación de medidas que se ponen en práctica --con el objetivo de favorecer la igualdad entre mujeres y hombres-- y desvelar algunas de las consecuencias.
En los cuatro primeros capítulos, el objetivo es mostrar el amplio abanico de ideas, y consideraciones que rodean a cuatro de los conceptos que parecen ser básicos en las políticas públicas: la igualdad: entre principio de justicia y principio político; la paridad: entendiendo la igualdad como principio de acción; el cuidado: que supone la igualdad como relación; y al tratar de ir mas allá de la igualdad de género, se estudia la diversidad, discriminaciones múltiples, e interseccionalidad. Profundizar en esos conceptos parecía imprescindible puesto que se trata de temas que presentan una gran complejidad. A menudo rodeados de ambigüedades; ceguera a ciertos factores; múltiples usos desde diferentes perspectivas, niveles de discrepancia notables; distintas lógicas de los actores implicados; además de trayectorias que llevan a desarrollos variados, e incluso cierta confusión que a menudo rodea a tales temas.
En los capítulos siguientes interesa entrar en los detalles de la aplicación de tales conceptos, en los instrumentos y formas en que las políticas públicas dan respuesta a las cuestiones de igualdad, paridad, cuidado, y diversidad. Para ello se estudian los marcos de las políticas públicas, tratando de avanzar desde los problemas de mujeres a las políticas de género. En el convencimiento de que las políticas públicas no son únicamente medidas para satisfacer necesidades, sino que además vehiculan una visión del mundo, asociada a una concepción de las relaciones de género, y son el resultado de la interacción de diferentes lecturas, por lo que es imprescindible tener en cuenta que crean conflicto, y que existen distintas percepciones del mismo. Teniendo en cuenta esas precisiones, parece que es esencial “captar” en que forma se definen los problemas tratados, y como las soluciones propuestas contribuyen a dar forma a la realidad.
Para ello se realiza un análisis discursivo de las políticas públicas de género. El desarrollo de ese punto muestra varios de los elementos en los que conviene fijar la atención, a fin de mejorar la comprensión de los cambios que afectan a las políticas de género. A continuación se profundiza en el cuidado como concepto en acción, a través de la implementación de medidas en la legislación española relacionadas con la actividad de cuidar. Esa aproximación fija la atención en normativas y leyes en vigencia en España, en 2012, en áreas específicas de las políticas públicas, que incluyen en sus contenidos explicita o implícitamente actividades de cuidado, posibilita visualizar el nivel el compromiso público con el bienestar, a través del cuidado, y en relación con la igualdad entre mujeres y hombres. A continuación se resumen las principales características de la institucionalización de las políticas de igualdad y contra la discriminación en Francia y España, con énfasis en los actores y contextos institucionales. Se subraya la dependencia de estas políticas vis-a-vis de sus marcos discursivos e institucionales iniciales y las diferencias que ello supone en los casos analizados. La última parte del libro se centra en la transversalidad de género y los instrumentos de europeización de las políticas de igualdad. Se realiza una perspectiva comparada, que pone énfasis en el papel de las políticas comunitarias como fuente de transferencias institucionales realizadas en los Estados miembros de la Unión Europea, aunque en la literatura sobre las políticas de género, la variable europea no suele ser objeto de un tratamiento especial, y con frecuencia se considera en el rango de la intervención a nivel internacional. Teniendo en cuenta que las políticas de igualdad comunitarias se basan no sólo en las disposiciones de los tratados, las directivas, y la jurisprudencia europea, sino también en los “conceptos-método”, en los discursos y maneras de hacer, se realiza un análisis de la articulación de medidas positivas, desde un enfoque transversal (mainstreaming), lo que permite entrar en la complejidad de los mecanismos de europeización. Los detalles que se incluyen muestran el interés, la necesidad y relevancia de integrar la transversalidad, y evitar la consideración aislada de las múltiples dimensiones de la desigualdad y discriminación.
El análisis que se realiza, de casos concretos, ilustra la enorme complejidad del proceso de europeización en un contexto multinivel, aunque muestra también la potencialidades existentes, y las sinergias posibles. Lo que alienta a terminar con unas reflexiones finales que pueden considerarse optimistas. A modo conclusión la igualdad como perspectiva plantea lo que podría ser la hipótesis del libro, el avance hacia la consolidación de la “indiferencia a las diferencias”. Y tal como se expresa en las páginas finales, en el sentido de que las diferenciaciones no deben constituir ni estigma ni recurso, por tanto no se trata de negar las diferencias, sino constituir sociedad trascendiendo las divisiones, oposiciones y rivalidades, en una ciudadanía comunitaria de identidad y valores.
EU member states and candidate countries are increasingly exposed to the domestic impact of EU re... more EU member states and candidate countries are increasingly exposed to the domestic impact of EU regulations, policy instruments, and discourses in the fields of gender equality and antidiscrimination. This impact not only affects national or subnational legislations and equality machineries, but also the framing and the wording of these policies, providing domestic actors with new resources and opportunity structures. This book explores the divergent policy outputs in the member states as regards the making of gender and other equalities, bringing together the most recent insights from Europeanization and gender scholars from a discursive-sociological perspective. Using largely unpublished empirical data, the book addresses policy issues ranging from gender violence to reconciliation and antidiscrimination policies, through case studies and comparisons covering up to 29 European countries. The result is a book that provides us with a more realistic and complex picture of Europeanization processes.
An empirical study of the Europeanization of Gender Equality Policies at the sub-national level i... more An empirical study of the Europeanization of Gender Equality Policies at the sub-national level in Spain.
Institutionalizing Intersectionality. The Changing Nature of European Equality Regimes Krizsan, A., Skjeie, H., Squires, J. (Eds.), 2012
This chapter analyzes the institutionalisation of intersectionality in a selection of South Europ... more This chapter analyzes the institutionalisation of intersectionality in a selection of South European countries (SEC). It firstly explores comparatively the paths of institutionalization of the policy response to the challenge of multiple inequalities based on gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation in the selected cases, often adopted as the result of the pressure for adaptation exerted by the European Union (EU). This includes an introduction to the institutional-legislative and political features, but also to policy styles and to the patterns of collective action of each case.. Secondly, the chapter draws on the empirical findings on the institutionalization of policies tackling inequalities to differentiate policy practices that intersect different inequalities (or that show potential to deal with such intersections)) from those that adopt more separate approaches to the treatment of inequalities. Thirdly, it focuses on the most relevant domestic patterns or legacies that can help us understand the differentiated paths of institutionalization of the policy approach to multiple inequalities that emerges from the analysis of the Southern European contexts.
Institutionalizing Intersectionality The Changing Nature of European Equality Regimes, Oct 2012
What is the relative importance of different inequalities for policymaking? Should they all be pr... more What is the relative importance of different inequalities for policymaking? Should they all be protected similarly, or are some different and deserving of wider protection? Does the widening protection of multiple inequalities open up the potential for addressing their intersections as well, or is more specific attention needed if intersectionality is to be addressed by equality institutions? The current European arena provides a laboratory for comparative research about these questions. The last decade has seen a steady move away from policy approaches that address different inequalities separately and a move towards an integrated approach to multiple inequalities. This collection maps the ways in which multiple inequalities are being addressed institutionally in Europe, and identifies the changing patterns of institutionalization. Using country-based and region-specific case studies it offers a comparative analysis of the multidimensional equality regimes that are emerging in Europe, and analyses the potential that these have for 'institutionalizing intersectionality'.
Women in Executive Power: A Global Overview, Bauer G. and Tremblay M. (eds.), Routledge, 2011
The first section of this chapter contemplates the major trends in electing/nominating women to e... more The first section of this chapter contemplates the major trends in electing/nominating women to executive position across the region since WWII. It pays specific attention to the effects of the different stages of State-socialism, placing the emphasis on the contradictions of the social engineering carried out by the former political regimes. We further distinguish between the two major processes of the post-communist era – transition to democracy and EU-accession – as regarding their potential impact on the feminization of governments. In the light of this general overview, we justify the option to limit further analysis to three case studies: Croatia, Lithuania and the Czech republic. Consecutively, the second section
introduces our country cases through a comparison of the major institutional features of their respective political systems, which enable to better understand key evolutions in women’s access to executives offices. These evolutions are detailed both for the State-socialist and the
post-communist periods, stressing context-specific variables that may explain the differential impact of sovietization, transition and EU-accession processes on executive women. Section 2 also successively places under consideration generic variables usually explored by the literature (cultural values, electoral rules, party alignment), and the role potentially assumed
by external variables, in the form of policy transfers or norms diffusion, especially in the context of Europeanization. We finally draw on a brief assessment of the potential effect of executive women on the advancement of women’s interests and gender rights, to suggest a few medium-range conclusions to our chapter.
An overview of the main challenges faced by social sciences in analyzing post-communism in Centra... more An overview of the main challenges faced by social sciences in analyzing post-communism in Central and Eastern Europe. With contributions from Piotr Sztompka, Elemér Hankiss and other forefront scholars. In French
Papers by Maxime Forest
This paper provides a comparative overview of the policy debates around the regulation of same-se... more This paper provides a comparative overview of the policy debates around the regulation of same-sex partnership in Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC). Theoretically grounded into critical frame analysis (Verloo, 2005; Lombardo & Meier, 2009) and discursive institutionalism (Schmidt, 2010; Lombardo & Forest, 2012 and 2015), it will primarily draw upon the comparative analysis carried out under the QUING project (FP7, 2007-2011) to be complemented with updated data for 2012-2014 and the work of the author on the gendering of democratic transition and Europeanization in CEEC. The paper will firstly place recent developments against the background of institutional heritages from State socialism as regards the regulation of homosexuality. It will then address the different pathways for its de-penalization and/or visibilization after 1989, accounting for the first attempts to legalize same-sex couples in 1990s' Czech Republic and Hungary. Framing the de-penalization of homosexuality as a necessary step to abolish the most authoritative features inherited from State socialism, it will argue that first liberalization measures were adopted without raising public awareness nor resolute ideological contention, with little attention for lesbian or transgender people. After a brief account of the debates on the recognition of same-sex partnership held in the region in the realm of EU-accession, it will further explore the role of Europeanization-driven vs. domestic variables by focusing on two specific countries: Croatia and Hungary. Once a forerunner in the region in recognizing same-sex partnership (formally granted in 1996 and legislated in 2007), Hungary eventually prohibited gay marriage by the new Constitution adopted in 2011 by Viktor Orban's two-third majority, concluding a process of growing polarization. In Croatia, the legalization of same-sex partnership in 2006 intervened in a window of opportunity inaugurated by EU accession, but the prohibition of Gay-marriage by the Constitution, triggered by a referendum, coincided with joining the EU in 2013.
To date, the contribution of the MEPs and members of the EU Commission(s) recruited in CEE member... more To date, the contribution of the MEPs and members of the EU Commission(s) recruited in CEE member states to the making of gender equality policies, has been tackled only incidentally. While the domestic impact of Europe on this policy sector had received a significant amount of scholarly attention over the pre-accession period (Forest, 2006; Roth, 2008), the the emergence of new cleavages around the politics of gender after EU enlargement and the little interest of both ECs led by José-Manuel Barroso for this area of European policies, have not triggered much interest. If it does not aim to bridge this gap in the literature, this presentation nonetheless intends to contribute to the research agenda of Eastern-Western Europeanization from a sociological and discursive institutionalist perspective (Schmidt, 2010; Forest & Lombardo, 2015). We will draw upon a study of the parliamentary work of female MEPs from CEE member states, carried out through personal interviews and the analysis of policy documents from 2004 to 2008. This preliminary work, which focused in particular on their contribution to the making of gender equality policies, as well as the hypotheses it brought about, will be challenged in the light of a longer period running until 2014, and of the evolutions in the recruitment of MEPs and EU commissioners from CEECs.
No matter you like it or not, research increasingly requires a proper management, as larger-scale... more No matter you like it or not, research increasingly requires a proper management, as larger-scale projects are becoming more common throughout the social sciences and humanities, housed in centres, institutes and programmes. Talented researchers find themselves faced with new challenges to act as managers and leaders rather than as individual scholars. They are responsible for the careers and professional development of others, and for managing interactions with university administrations and external stakeholders. Although many scientific and technological disciplines have long been organized in this way, few resources have been created to help new leaders understand their roles and responsibilities and to reflect on their practice.
This chapter is part of The SAGE Handbook of Research Management coordinated by Robert Dingwall and Mary Byrne MacDonnell. This handbook has been created by the combined experience of a leading social scientist and a chief executive of a major international research development institution and funder. The editors have recruited a truly global team of contributors to write about the challenges they have encountered in the course of their careers, and to provoke readers to think about how they might respond within their own contexts.
The chapter on integrating gender and diversity provides resources to reflect both on the issue of gender and diversity management within research teams, and the integration of a gender perspective in research work itself. As such, it also draws upon a critical reflection on the current standards of academic excellence.
Paper presented at the congress of the French Political Science Association, 2013
An analysis of the diverging framing of multiple discriminations in France and the EU This paper ... more An analysis of the diverging framing of multiple discriminations in France and the EU This paper addresses recent developments of equality and anti-discrimination policies in France, through the lens of current debates on multiple discriminations and intersecting inequalities in Europe. Partly grounded into the literature on parity politics, which unravelled different framings of gender equality, it adopts a broader perspective informed by a discursive-sociological approach to the Europeanization of gender & other equality policies (Lombardo, Forest, 2012). Paying attention to the shift, at the EU-level, towards an "additive" anti-discrimination approach, this contribution critically assesses the diffusion of the notion of diversity in France and its implications for addressing multiple discriminations through legislative, institutional and policy arrangements. It draws upon the interpretive analysis of policy texts carried out under the EU-funded QUING project (FP6, 2007-2011), and the institutional approach adopted in Alonso, Bustelo, Forest et al. (2012). Our hypothesis will be that similarly to parity, diversity is not a proxy for policy innovation nor a French exception, but a discursive strategy to be read in the light of policy transfers from the EU-level, with respect to the challenge of including multiple inequalities under a same policy paradigm. This paper will conclude with a critical review of the most recent bricks brought to the making of French anti-discrimination policies.
A comparison of women's access to power executives in Central and Eastern Europe since WWII, with... more A comparison of women's access to power executives in Central and Eastern Europe since WWII, with a focus on the Czech Republic, Lithuania and Croatia.
On a first place, the paper addresses the political background of female MEPs from Central & East... more On a first place, the paper addresses the political background of female MEPs from Central & Eastern Europe at the FEMM committee, as well as their “socialization to Europe”. Based upon interviews, biographical data and comparative analysis of women’s representation in post communist Europe, it draws attention on differentiated paths to political representation. Drawing further comparisons with previous European legislatures, the paper also attempts an assessment of the impact of Eastern enlargement on the making of equality policies at the European Parliament and suggest a plausible research agenda.
Presentation at the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, Philadelphia, 2008
This paper addresses the articulation of the redefinition of Gender rights and family models with... more This paper addresses the articulation of the redefinition of Gender rights and family models with the demographic challenge commonly faced by the most recent members of the EU. While these debates have been increasingly interconnected since 2002, the context of their articulation has changed, with more extensive references to the context of Europeanization, both as a threat for national values and a leading model in the promotion of Gender rights. Therefore, the paper firstly explores how the claims for the recognition of same-sex couple have emerged in some countries, while they were silenced in others. The indirect influence of external variables and the variety of frames that emerged along these debates are also discussed, with a special emphasis on countries where these debates have produced substantial policy changes. Secondly, the paper briefly refers to the politics of anti-discrimination, revealing the increasing impact of Europeanization (including on the recognition of same-sex couples), as well as its contentious dimension for domestic actors.
Articles by Maxime Forest
This article argues that a discursive–sociological approach to study Europeanization is particula... more This article argues that a discursive–sociological approach to study Europeanization is particularly apt for understanding the dynamics of policy change in Europe. It does so by bringing closer the agenda of discursive institutionalism (DI) and gender policy analysis, drawing upon the recent sociological and discursive turns in the study of the domestic impact of Europe, and the long-term interest of gender policy analysis for discursive framings, norm diffusion, actors' interactions and EU soft policy instruments. Challenging the limitations of Europeanization studies that only focus on convergence , the article explores the contribution that both Schmidt's DI and discursive gender approaches make to the understanding of policy change in Europe. While seeing the two approaches as complementary in the study of Europeanization, the article discusses the added value of gender approaches for improving our understanding of policy change in Europe.
Femmes Hommes: Penser l'égalité, pp. 39-48, Dec 2012
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Books and book chapters by Maxime Forest
The analytical framework used for exploring these factors in this book is neo-institutionalism. Through three neo-institutionalist lenses—historical, sociological and discursive—contributors investigate two aspects of the processes of adoption or opposition of equal recognition of same-sex partnerships. Firstly, they reveal how claims by LGBTIQ movements are being framed politically and brought to parliamentary politics. Secondly, they explore the ways in which same-sex marriage becomes institutionalized (or resisted) through legal and societal norms and practices. Although it adopts neo-institutionalism as its main theoretical framework, the book incorporates a broad range of perspectives, including scholarship on social movements, LGBTI rights, heterosexuality and social norms, and gender and politics.
En los cuatro primeros capítulos, el objetivo es mostrar el amplio abanico de ideas, y consideraciones que rodean a cuatro de los conceptos que parecen ser básicos en las políticas públicas: la igualdad: entre principio de justicia y principio político; la paridad: entendiendo la igualdad como principio de acción; el cuidado: que supone la igualdad como relación; y al tratar de ir mas allá de la igualdad de género, se estudia la diversidad, discriminaciones múltiples, e interseccionalidad. Profundizar en esos conceptos parecía imprescindible puesto que se trata de temas que presentan una gran complejidad. A menudo rodeados de ambigüedades; ceguera a ciertos factores; múltiples usos desde diferentes perspectivas, niveles de discrepancia notables; distintas lógicas de los actores implicados; además de trayectorias que llevan a desarrollos variados, e incluso cierta confusión que a menudo rodea a tales temas.
En los capítulos siguientes interesa entrar en los detalles de la aplicación de tales conceptos, en los instrumentos y formas en que las políticas públicas dan respuesta a las cuestiones de igualdad, paridad, cuidado, y diversidad. Para ello se estudian los marcos de las políticas públicas, tratando de avanzar desde los problemas de mujeres a las políticas de género. En el convencimiento de que las políticas públicas no son únicamente medidas para satisfacer necesidades, sino que además vehiculan una visión del mundo, asociada a una concepción de las relaciones de género, y son el resultado de la interacción de diferentes lecturas, por lo que es imprescindible tener en cuenta que crean conflicto, y que existen distintas percepciones del mismo. Teniendo en cuenta esas precisiones, parece que es esencial “captar” en que forma se definen los problemas tratados, y como las soluciones propuestas contribuyen a dar forma a la realidad.
Para ello se realiza un análisis discursivo de las políticas públicas de género. El desarrollo de ese punto muestra varios de los elementos en los que conviene fijar la atención, a fin de mejorar la comprensión de los cambios que afectan a las políticas de género. A continuación se profundiza en el cuidado como concepto en acción, a través de la implementación de medidas en la legislación española relacionadas con la actividad de cuidar. Esa aproximación fija la atención en normativas y leyes en vigencia en España, en 2012, en áreas específicas de las políticas públicas, que incluyen en sus contenidos explicita o implícitamente actividades de cuidado, posibilita visualizar el nivel el compromiso público con el bienestar, a través del cuidado, y en relación con la igualdad entre mujeres y hombres. A continuación se resumen las principales características de la institucionalización de las políticas de igualdad y contra la discriminación en Francia y España, con énfasis en los actores y contextos institucionales. Se subraya la dependencia de estas políticas vis-a-vis de sus marcos discursivos e institucionales iniciales y las diferencias que ello supone en los casos analizados. La última parte del libro se centra en la transversalidad de género y los instrumentos de europeización de las políticas de igualdad. Se realiza una perspectiva comparada, que pone énfasis en el papel de las políticas comunitarias como fuente de transferencias institucionales realizadas en los Estados miembros de la Unión Europea, aunque en la literatura sobre las políticas de género, la variable europea no suele ser objeto de un tratamiento especial, y con frecuencia se considera en el rango de la intervención a nivel internacional. Teniendo en cuenta que las políticas de igualdad comunitarias se basan no sólo en las disposiciones de los tratados, las directivas, y la jurisprudencia europea, sino también en los “conceptos-método”, en los discursos y maneras de hacer, se realiza un análisis de la articulación de medidas positivas, desde un enfoque transversal (mainstreaming), lo que permite entrar en la complejidad de los mecanismos de europeización. Los detalles que se incluyen muestran el interés, la necesidad y relevancia de integrar la transversalidad, y evitar la consideración aislada de las múltiples dimensiones de la desigualdad y discriminación.
El análisis que se realiza, de casos concretos, ilustra la enorme complejidad del proceso de europeización en un contexto multinivel, aunque muestra también la potencialidades existentes, y las sinergias posibles. Lo que alienta a terminar con unas reflexiones finales que pueden considerarse optimistas. A modo conclusión la igualdad como perspectiva plantea lo que podría ser la hipótesis del libro, el avance hacia la consolidación de la “indiferencia a las diferencias”. Y tal como se expresa en las páginas finales, en el sentido de que las diferenciaciones no deben constituir ni estigma ni recurso, por tanto no se trata de negar las diferencias, sino constituir sociedad trascendiendo las divisiones, oposiciones y rivalidades, en una ciudadanía comunitaria de identidad y valores.
introduces our country cases through a comparison of the major institutional features of their respective political systems, which enable to better understand key evolutions in women’s access to executives offices. These evolutions are detailed both for the State-socialist and the
post-communist periods, stressing context-specific variables that may explain the differential impact of sovietization, transition and EU-accession processes on executive women. Section 2 also successively places under consideration generic variables usually explored by the literature (cultural values, electoral rules, party alignment), and the role potentially assumed
by external variables, in the form of policy transfers or norms diffusion, especially in the context of Europeanization. We finally draw on a brief assessment of the potential effect of executive women on the advancement of women’s interests and gender rights, to suggest a few medium-range conclusions to our chapter.
Papers by Maxime Forest
This chapter is part of The SAGE Handbook of Research Management coordinated by Robert Dingwall and Mary Byrne MacDonnell. This handbook has been created by the combined experience of a leading social scientist and a chief executive of a major international research development institution and funder. The editors have recruited a truly global team of contributors to write about the challenges they have encountered in the course of their careers, and to provoke readers to think about how they might respond within their own contexts.
The chapter on integrating gender and diversity provides resources to reflect both on the issue of gender and diversity management within research teams, and the integration of a gender perspective in research work itself. As such, it also draws upon a critical reflection on the current standards of academic excellence.
Articles by Maxime Forest
The analytical framework used for exploring these factors in this book is neo-institutionalism. Through three neo-institutionalist lenses—historical, sociological and discursive—contributors investigate two aspects of the processes of adoption or opposition of equal recognition of same-sex partnerships. Firstly, they reveal how claims by LGBTIQ movements are being framed politically and brought to parliamentary politics. Secondly, they explore the ways in which same-sex marriage becomes institutionalized (or resisted) through legal and societal norms and practices. Although it adopts neo-institutionalism as its main theoretical framework, the book incorporates a broad range of perspectives, including scholarship on social movements, LGBTI rights, heterosexuality and social norms, and gender and politics.
En los cuatro primeros capítulos, el objetivo es mostrar el amplio abanico de ideas, y consideraciones que rodean a cuatro de los conceptos que parecen ser básicos en las políticas públicas: la igualdad: entre principio de justicia y principio político; la paridad: entendiendo la igualdad como principio de acción; el cuidado: que supone la igualdad como relación; y al tratar de ir mas allá de la igualdad de género, se estudia la diversidad, discriminaciones múltiples, e interseccionalidad. Profundizar en esos conceptos parecía imprescindible puesto que se trata de temas que presentan una gran complejidad. A menudo rodeados de ambigüedades; ceguera a ciertos factores; múltiples usos desde diferentes perspectivas, niveles de discrepancia notables; distintas lógicas de los actores implicados; además de trayectorias que llevan a desarrollos variados, e incluso cierta confusión que a menudo rodea a tales temas.
En los capítulos siguientes interesa entrar en los detalles de la aplicación de tales conceptos, en los instrumentos y formas en que las políticas públicas dan respuesta a las cuestiones de igualdad, paridad, cuidado, y diversidad. Para ello se estudian los marcos de las políticas públicas, tratando de avanzar desde los problemas de mujeres a las políticas de género. En el convencimiento de que las políticas públicas no son únicamente medidas para satisfacer necesidades, sino que además vehiculan una visión del mundo, asociada a una concepción de las relaciones de género, y son el resultado de la interacción de diferentes lecturas, por lo que es imprescindible tener en cuenta que crean conflicto, y que existen distintas percepciones del mismo. Teniendo en cuenta esas precisiones, parece que es esencial “captar” en que forma se definen los problemas tratados, y como las soluciones propuestas contribuyen a dar forma a la realidad.
Para ello se realiza un análisis discursivo de las políticas públicas de género. El desarrollo de ese punto muestra varios de los elementos en los que conviene fijar la atención, a fin de mejorar la comprensión de los cambios que afectan a las políticas de género. A continuación se profundiza en el cuidado como concepto en acción, a través de la implementación de medidas en la legislación española relacionadas con la actividad de cuidar. Esa aproximación fija la atención en normativas y leyes en vigencia en España, en 2012, en áreas específicas de las políticas públicas, que incluyen en sus contenidos explicita o implícitamente actividades de cuidado, posibilita visualizar el nivel el compromiso público con el bienestar, a través del cuidado, y en relación con la igualdad entre mujeres y hombres. A continuación se resumen las principales características de la institucionalización de las políticas de igualdad y contra la discriminación en Francia y España, con énfasis en los actores y contextos institucionales. Se subraya la dependencia de estas políticas vis-a-vis de sus marcos discursivos e institucionales iniciales y las diferencias que ello supone en los casos analizados. La última parte del libro se centra en la transversalidad de género y los instrumentos de europeización de las políticas de igualdad. Se realiza una perspectiva comparada, que pone énfasis en el papel de las políticas comunitarias como fuente de transferencias institucionales realizadas en los Estados miembros de la Unión Europea, aunque en la literatura sobre las políticas de género, la variable europea no suele ser objeto de un tratamiento especial, y con frecuencia se considera en el rango de la intervención a nivel internacional. Teniendo en cuenta que las políticas de igualdad comunitarias se basan no sólo en las disposiciones de los tratados, las directivas, y la jurisprudencia europea, sino también en los “conceptos-método”, en los discursos y maneras de hacer, se realiza un análisis de la articulación de medidas positivas, desde un enfoque transversal (mainstreaming), lo que permite entrar en la complejidad de los mecanismos de europeización. Los detalles que se incluyen muestran el interés, la necesidad y relevancia de integrar la transversalidad, y evitar la consideración aislada de las múltiples dimensiones de la desigualdad y discriminación.
El análisis que se realiza, de casos concretos, ilustra la enorme complejidad del proceso de europeización en un contexto multinivel, aunque muestra también la potencialidades existentes, y las sinergias posibles. Lo que alienta a terminar con unas reflexiones finales que pueden considerarse optimistas. A modo conclusión la igualdad como perspectiva plantea lo que podría ser la hipótesis del libro, el avance hacia la consolidación de la “indiferencia a las diferencias”. Y tal como se expresa en las páginas finales, en el sentido de que las diferenciaciones no deben constituir ni estigma ni recurso, por tanto no se trata de negar las diferencias, sino constituir sociedad trascendiendo las divisiones, oposiciones y rivalidades, en una ciudadanía comunitaria de identidad y valores.
introduces our country cases through a comparison of the major institutional features of their respective political systems, which enable to better understand key evolutions in women’s access to executives offices. These evolutions are detailed both for the State-socialist and the
post-communist periods, stressing context-specific variables that may explain the differential impact of sovietization, transition and EU-accession processes on executive women. Section 2 also successively places under consideration generic variables usually explored by the literature (cultural values, electoral rules, party alignment), and the role potentially assumed
by external variables, in the form of policy transfers or norms diffusion, especially in the context of Europeanization. We finally draw on a brief assessment of the potential effect of executive women on the advancement of women’s interests and gender rights, to suggest a few medium-range conclusions to our chapter.
This chapter is part of The SAGE Handbook of Research Management coordinated by Robert Dingwall and Mary Byrne MacDonnell. This handbook has been created by the combined experience of a leading social scientist and a chief executive of a major international research development institution and funder. The editors have recruited a truly global team of contributors to write about the challenges they have encountered in the course of their careers, and to provoke readers to think about how they might respond within their own contexts.
The chapter on integrating gender and diversity provides resources to reflect both on the issue of gender and diversity management within research teams, and the integration of a gender perspective in research work itself. As such, it also draws upon a critical reflection on the current standards of academic excellence.
transition démocratique en termes d’égalité politique ? Au plan
quantitatif, probablement,même si les situations sont très diverses dans chacun des pays. Toutefois, l’intégration européenne a contribué à faire de la féminisation un enjeu politique, dès lors présenté comme un gage de moralité.