Theorizing European Gender Systems
- 1 November 1995
- journal article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Journal of European Social Policy
- Vol. 5 (4) , 263-284
- https://doi.org/10.1177/095892879500500401
Abstract
This article describes and evaluates three different strands of theorizing European gender systems on a comparative basis. Each strand is associated with a particular concep tual, empirical and disciplinary context. The first strand, 'gendered welfare modelling' is centred around feminist critiques of compara tive social policy and seeks to add gender into the theorization of state welfare regimes. The second strand, 'differentiated patriarchy' is more sociological in origin and attempts to de velop the concept of patriarchy to take account of geographical differences. The final strand, developed in the context of feminist critiques of Scandinavian political science and social history, attempts to delineate different 'gender contracts' on what men and women are, think, expect and do. The paper criticizes all these theorizations for neglecting regional and local processes of gender differentiation, and con cludes that a combination of the 'differentiated patriarchy' and 'gender contract' strands hold the greater promise for accounting for geo graphical difference in systems of gender in equality.Keywords
This publication has 21 references indexed in Scilit:
- The Gender Contract and Part-Time Paid Work by Women—Finland and Germany ComparedEnvironment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 1994
- Women's and men's lives and work in SwedenGender, Place & Culture, 1994
- Methodological and Theoretical Issues in the Comparative Analysis of Gender Relations in Western EuropeEnvironment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 1994
- From State Socialism to Market Economy—Women's Employment in East GermanyEnvironment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 1994
- Occupational Sex Segregation in a ‘Woman-Friendly’ Society—The Case of SwedenEnvironment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 1994
- Measuring Equal Opportunities in European EmploymentEnvironment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 1994
- Theorising Differences in PatriarchyEnvironment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 1994
- The Myth of Rising Female EmploymentWork, Employment & Society, 1993
- The Geography of Gender Divisions of Labour in BritainTransactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 1991
- Spatial aspects of the growth of part-time employment in BritainRegional Studies, 1986