Gender and the Economic Crisis
Social, state, and political responses to Europe's (unevenly distributed) contemporary economic crises of recession and austerity have important implications for gender relations and gendered inequalities. Formerly progressive gender policies are being downscaled and social benefits are being cut in ways that are insensitive to increasing gender disparities and gendered distribution of labor in the work force. In addition, the attention of political institutions and political actors has shifted from social change and progressive agendas to economic crisis management. In those countries that have been especially impacted by intra-EU migration and demographic change, the economic crisis has provided fertile ground for far right and nativist political rhetoric and movements that moralize key gender equality issues relating to issues such as reproduction and family relations, and which propose the curtailing of rights along these lines. In response to weakening state and regional capacity to address these tensions as well as the impact of inappropriate and unequitable responses, new forms of civil resilience are emerging across Europe.
The objective of this conference is to gather academics, practitioners, and activists who employ diverse frameworks of analysis, thematic and geographic knowledge, and different methodological approaches to the study of the gendered impacts of the economic crisis. By drawing together research agendas and themes currently scattered across individuals and departments at CEU, this conference will strengthen the interdisciplinarity of CEU-based research in this area.
The workshop will start with a keynote speech by Sylvia Walby (Lancaster University) on Thursday evening in the CEU Auditorium (Nador u. 9). On Friday in room 101 at Oktober 6 u. 7, there will be a panel on women's rights activism connected to the economic crises in UK, Romania and Spain; a panel on policy responses to the crises; and a panel on non-economic aspects of the crises.
Program (Download)