Western Europe

Gender Dimensions of Sustainable Consumption

Citation:

Weller, Ines. 2017. “Gender Dimensions of Sustainable Consumption.” In Routledge Handbook of Gender and Environment, edited by Sherilyn MacGregor, 331–44. London: Routldege.

Author: Ines Weller

Annotation:

Summary:

Sustainable consumption and production patterns have been prominent issues from the very start of the sustainable development debate. In fact, Agenda 21, the plan of action adopted at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro stated that ‘the major cause of the continued deterioration of the global environment is the unsustainable pattern of consumption and production, particularly in industrialized coun-
tries . . .’ (UN 1992:31). Although the urgent need for fundamental changes in consumption and production patterns, which would transform societies and push them in the direction of sustainable development, has been recognized since that time, particularly in the Global North, there are still very few signs that any such transformation is taking place. World energy consumption grows unabated as global carbon emissions continue to rise. The fundamental inequalities between the Global North and South also remain, despite very high rates of growth in the newly industrialized and developing countries of the Global South in particular (IEA 2013). In this context, and especially in the context of sustainable patterns of consumption and production, the attitudes and behaviours of private citizens and consumers, their perceptions of environmental problems, and associated use of resources all play an important role. Hitherto, however, these debates have neglected the significance of gender, gender relations, and gender justice for sustainable consumption.

In this chapter, I will focus on debates and research in Germany/Western Europe. I begin by introducing the definitions, objectives, and areas of responsibility of various actors for sustainable consumption. This compact overview focuses in particular on the relationship between production and consumption as gendered societal spheres. I then move on to consider the tension that exists between the theory of privatized environmental responsibility, on the one hand, which criticizes tendencies to overstate and moralize the power of private consumers to shape change and, on the other, women as change agents for more sustainable consumption. The next part of the chapter is organized around the distinction, which is useful for analyzing the gender aspects of sustainable consumption, between explicit and implicit gender dimensions. With reference to feminist theorist Sandra Harding (1986), I draw together the individual and structural levels of gender as explicit gender dimensions. Both of these are for the most part based on statistical data and empirical findings, particularly concerning gender differences and, in this respect, link to ambivalence between the analysis of gender and gender hierarchies, on the one hand, and the reproduction of traditional gender images and dichotomies on the other. The discussion focuses in particular on the symbolic conceptual level of gender, which I consider in detail in relation to a specific example. The background is the feminist critique of the claim of the natural sciences to objectivity (Orland and Scheich 1995). Drawing on the example of a study on the volume of food waste, I draw attention to several gender-related ‘blank spaces’ and gaps in the data that have been produced in this field. This emerges more clearly from closer consideration of the treatment given to male-coded production and female-coded consumption. (Summary from original source)

Topics: Development, Environment, Feminisms, Gender, Women, Justice Regions: Europe, Western Europe Countries: Germany

Year: 2017

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Las Violencias Sexuadas de La Guerra Civil Española: Paradigma Para Una Lectura Cultural Del Conflicto

Citation:

Joly, Maud. 2008. “Las Violencias Sexuadas de La Guerra Civil Española: Paradigma Para Una Lectura Cultural Del Conflicto.” Historia Social, no. 61 (2008): 89–107.

Author: Maud Joly

Abstract:

SPANISH ABSTRACT:

El artículo propone una lectura cultural de la Guerra Civil que tenga como objeto de estudio las violencias sexuadas dirigidas contra las mujeres republicanas. Esta aproximación se inscribe en la voluntad de superar los límites cronológicos y epistemológicos de la interpretación histórica del conflicto. Tras hacer un balance historiográfico, la reflexión se dirige a las modalidades, significados y genealogía del "saqueo del cuerpo" perpetrado durante la Guerra Civil. Más adelante se analiza la dimensión pública, espectacular y escatològica de las violencias sexuadas, entra la sumisión y la reconquista de la retaguardia. Por último, la aproximación cultural del fenómeno guerrero invita a reflexionar sobre las experiencias femeninas de la violencia de guerra.

ENGLISH ABSTRACT:

The article puts forward a cultural interpretation of the Civil War which covers the aspects of sexed violence suffered by Republican women. This approach arises through the wish to go beyond the chronological and epistemological limits of the historical interpretation of the conflict. After making a historiographie appraisal, the reflection goes on to tackle the modalities, meanings and genealogy of the "body looting" perpetrated during the Civil War. Then an analysis is made of the spectacular and eschatological public dimension of sexed violence, with the submission and the reconquest of the rearguard. Lastly, the cultural approach of the warrior phenomenon leads readers to a reflection on the female experiences of war violence.

Keywords: Spanish Civil War, Spain, conflict-related sexual violence, conflict-related sexual violence against women, rape

Topics: Armed Conflict, Civil Wars, Gender-Based Violence, Sexual Violence, Male Perpetrators, SV against Women Regions: Europe, Western Europe Countries: Spain

Year: 2008

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Creating a Gender-Inclusive Mining Industry: Uncovering the Challenges of Female Mining Stakeholders

Citation:

Kansake, Bruno Ayaga, Georgette Barnes Sakyi-Addo, and Nelson Kofi Dumakor-Dupey. 2021. “Creating a Gender-Inclusive Mining Industry: Uncovering the Challenges of Female Mining Stakeholders.” Resources Policy 70 (March). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2020.101962.

Authors: Bruno Ayaga Kansake, Georgette Barnes Sakyi-Addo, Nelson Kofi Dumakor-Dupey

Abstract:

The global mining industry is male dominated. In the US, women constitute 13% of the mining workforce and 16% of mining related college programs. Similar trends exist globally. Efforts are being made by educational institutions, mining companies and professional organizations to attract women to the industry to achieve a gender inclusive industry. Such efforts have yielded minimal dividends partly due to insufficient reliable data on challenges confronting female miners. To provide empirical data to guide such efforts, we undertook a survey to understand the reasons for low female participation in the industry with participants from Ghana, USA, Ireland, Canada and other countries. The survey sought to identify challenges faced by female mining stakeholders and availability of support facilities for handling these challenges. Open and closed ended questionnaires were administered through online platforms. The responses were analyzed quantitatively using summary statistics and qualitatively using thematic analysis. About 38% of the respondents expressed satisfaction with their current jobs. The high dissatisfaction rate stems from lower salaries compared to male counterparts (29%), gender-based discrimination (53%), sexual harassment (37%) and sexual demands during hiring (17%). The key hindrances to a gender inclusive mining sector have been grouped into seven themes including discrimination, harassment, gender ideologies, and lack of support. We propose a four-way mind map model requiring commitment from government, companies, chambers of mines, and employees to ensure a gender inclusive mining industry.

Keywords: gender inclusion, diversity, mining industry, female stakeholders, discrimination, harassment

Topics: Extractive Industries, Gender, Women, Gender Balance, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality Regions: Africa, West Africa, Americas, North America, Europe, Western Europe Countries: Canada, Ghana, Ireland, United States of America

Year: 2021

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Women Migrants from East to West: Gender, Mobility and Belonging in Contemporary Europe

Citation:

Passerini, Luisa, Dawn Lyon, Enrica Capussotti, and Ioanna Laliotou, eds. 2007. Women Migrants from East to West: Gender, Mobility and Belonging in Contemporary Europe. New York: Berghahn Books.

Authors: Luisa Passerini, Dawn Luon, Enrica Capussotti, Ioanna Laliotou

Annotation:

Summary:

Based on the oral histories of eighty migrant women and thirty additional interviews with ‘native’ women in the ‘receiving’ countries, this volume documents the contemporary phenomenon of the feminisation of migration through an exploration of the lives of women, who have moved from Bulgaria and Hungary to Italy and the Netherlands. It assumes migrants to be active subjects, creating possibilities and taking decisions in their own lives, as well as being subject to legal and political regulation, and the book analyses the new forms of subjectivity that come about through mobility. Part I is a largely conceptual exploration of subjectivity, mobility and gender in Europe. The chapters in Part II focus on love, work, home, communication, and food, themes which emerged from the migrant women’s accounts. In Part III, based on the interviews with ‘native’ women – employers, friends, or in associations relevant to migrant women – the chapters analyse their representations of migrants, and the book goes on to explore forms of intersubjectivity between European women of different cultural origins. A major contribution of this book is to consider how the movement of people across Europe is changing the cultural and social landscape with implications for how we think about what Europe means. (Summary from Google Books)

Table of Contents:

On Becoming Europeans – Rosi Braidotti

‘I Want to See the World’: Mobility and Subjectivity in the European Context – Ioanna Laliotou

Transformations of Legal Subjectivity in Europe: From the Subjection of Women to Privileged Subjects – Hanne Petersen

‘A Dance through Life’: Narratives of Migrant Women – Nadejda Alexandrova and Anna Hortobagyi

Imaginary Geographies: Border-Places and ‘Home’ in the Narratives of Migrant Women – Nadejda Alexandrova and Dawn Lyon

‘My Hobby Is People’: Migration and Communication in the Light of Late Totalitarianism – Miglena Nikolchina

Migrant Women in Work – Enrica Capussotti, Ioanna Laliotou, and Dawn Lyon

The Topos of Love in the Life-Stories of Migrant Women – Nadejda Alexandrova

Food-Talk: Markers of Identity and Imaginary Belongings – Andrea Petö

Relationships in the Making: Accounts of Native Women – Enrica Capussotti and Esther Vonk

Migration, Integration and Emancipation: Women’s Positioning in the Debate in the Netherlands – Esther Vonk

Modernity versus Backwardness: Italian Women’s Perceptions of Self and Other – Enrica Capussotti

Moral and Cultural Boundaries in Representations of Migrants: Italy and the Netherlands in Comparative Perspective – Dawn Lyon

Changing Matrimonial Law in the Image of Immigration Law – Inger Marie Conradsen and Annette Kronborg

In Transit: Space, People, Identities – Andrea Petö

Gender, Subjectivity, Europe: A Constellation for the Future – Luisa Passerini

Topics: Migration, Gender, Women Regions: Europe, Balkans, Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southern Europe, Western Europe Countries: Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands

Year: 2007

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Gender, Mobility, and Covid-19: The Case of Belgium

Citation:

Ella, Giscard Assoumou. 2020. “Gender, Mobility, and Covid-19: The Case of Belgium.” Feminist Economics. doi:10.1080/13545701.2020.1832240.

Author: Giscard Assoumou Ella

Abstract:

Studies have shown that women are disadvantaged when facing infectious disease outbreaks. This study uses descriptive data analysis, causality, and VAR modeling to verify this hypothesis in the case of COVID-19 in Belgium in relation to people’s mobility. The results confirm this women’s disadvantage hypothesis, in particular among the working-age population in Belgium. This disadvantage is explained by women’s greater mobility during the pandemic. Despite the restrictions on nonessential travel imposed by Belgian authorities, women use public transportation more often than men to travel for work and family reasons and are thus more likely to be exposed to the virus. Therefore, it is necessary that the health, economic, and social response provided by the Belgian authorities correct this inequality. HIGHLIGHTS Belgium has a larger share of women with confirmed COVID-19 cases than most countries. Women are a large proportion of the country’s essential and frontline workers. Women’s use of public transportation during lockdown to fulfill responsibilities increased their exposure to the virus. The measures to combat COVID-19 in Belgium must correct the inequalities caused by the pandemic to women’s detriment. Belgian women should join the health, economic, and social response against the pandemic to prevent future health crises.

Keywords: gender, women's disadvantage, COVID-19, Belgium, confirmed cases, infection

Topics: Economies, Gender, Women, Health, Infrastructure, Transportation Regions: Europe, Western Europe Countries: Belgium

Year: 2020

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Technology Change = Gender Change? Androcentric Construction of Engineering as Symbolic Resource in the German-Speaking Area of Renewable Energies

Citation:

Prietl, Bianca. 2017. “Technology Change = Gender Change? Androcentric Construction of Engineering as Symbolic Resource in the German-Speaking Area of Renewable Energies.” Engineering Studies 9 (1): 3–23.

Author: Bianca Prietl

Abstract:

This paper is concerned with how engineers working in renewable energies in Germany and Austria position themselves and their professional activity within this relatively new field of engineering occupation by mobilizing a specific androcentric construction of engineering as a symbolic resource. Drawing on qualitative interviews, the argument unfolds in three steps: First, the paper reconstructs how engineers draft an image of their professional activity by symbolically aligning it with established understandings of engineering in traditional areas of engineering occupation and by simultaneously distancing it from allegedly ‘other’ notions of engineering practice that are framed as ‘alternative’. The discursive distinction between professional engineering and its alleged ‘alternative’ counterpart constitutes the former as hard, sincere, structured, and reliable activity based on an instrumental rationality. Second, it is shown how the professional/alternative distinction is gendered with ‘the alternative’ being devaluated and feminized. Consequently, it is argued that there is an implicit association between the discursively constituted idea of professional engineering and masculinity. Third, this discursive construction of engineering is interpreted as a symbolic resource in the engineers’ claim to be recognized as professional actors within renewable energies and, thus, in their struggle for favourable positions within this social field of power.

Keywords: renewable energies, discursive struggle for power, implicit masculinity construction, engineering

Topics: Gender, Masculinity/ies, Femininity/ies, Gendered Power Relations, Infrastructure, Energy, Livelihoods Regions: Europe, Central Europe, Western Europe Countries: Austria, Germany

Year: 2017

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Do Welfare State Taxes and Transfers Reduce Gender Income Inequality? Evidence from Eight European Countries

Citation:

Avraam, Silvia and Daria Popova. 2020. “Do Welfare State Taxes and Transfers Reduce Gender Income Inequality? Evidence from Eight European Countries.” Working Paper EM 09/20, EuroMod at the Institute for Social and Economic Research, Essex.

Authors: Silvia Avraam, Daria Popova

Abstract:

We complement the institutional literature on gender and the welfare state by examining how taxes and transfers affect the incomes of men and women. Using microsimulation and intra-household income splitting rules, we measure the differences in the level and composition of individual disposable incomes of men and women in eight European countries covering various welfare regime types. We quantify the extent to which taxes and transfers are able to close the gender gap in earnings, as well as which policy instruments contribute most to reducing the gap. We find that with the exception of old- age pensions, taxes and transfers – both contributory and means-tested – significantly reduce gender income inequality but cannot compensate for high gender earnings gaps. The equalizing effect of benefits is higher than that of taxes but varies significantly not only across countries but also across groups with different demographic characteristics.

Keywords: gender inequality, income distribution, welfare state, social policy, Europe

Topics: Gender, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Households Regions: Europe, Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Nordic states, Northern Europe, Southern Europe, Western Europe Countries: Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Romania, Spain, United Kingdom

Year: 2020

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Gender Bias in Tax Systems

Citation:

Stotsky, Janet G. 1996. “Gender Bias in Tax Systems.” IMF (International Monetary Fund) Working Paper 96/99, IMF.

Author: Janet G. Stotsky

Abstract:

This paper examines the nature of gender bias in tax systems. Gender bias takes both explicit and implicit forms. Explicit gender bias is found in many personal income tax systems. Several countries especially those in Western Europe, have undertaken to eliminate explicit gender bias in recent years. It is more difficult to identify implicit gender bias, since this depends in large part on the value judgements as to desirable social and economic behavior. Implicit gender bias has also been a target for reform of tax systems in recent years.

Topics: Economies, Public Finance, Gender Regions: Europe, Western Europe

Year: 1996

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Taxation, Work and Gender Equality in Ireland

Citation:

Doorley, Karina. 2018. “Taxation, Work and Gender Equality in Ireland.” Journal of the Statistical and Social Inquiry of Ireland 47: 71-87.

Author: Karina Doorley

Abstract:

In most developed countries, economies are facing population ageing, falling fertility rates and stagnating labour force participation. The ability of governments to fund future pension and health-care expenditure relies to a large extent on income tax and social security receipts from workers. Policymakers are generally in agreement that increasing the labour force participation of women, without reducing the fertility rate, is needed. In the year 2000, with the aim of increasing women's labour market participation, a partial individualisation of the Irish income tax system was initiated. Using the Living in Ireland survey and a difference-in-differences framework, I investigate whether this reform had any effect on female labour supply and caring duties. I find that the labour force participation rate of married women increased by 5-6 percentage points in the wake of the reform, hours of work increased by two per week and hours of unpaid childcare decreased by approximately the same margin.

Keywords: individual taxation, Ireland, labour supply

Topics: Economies, Public Finance, Gender, Women, Livelihoods Regions: Europe, Western Europe Countries: Ireland

Year: 2018

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Engendering Cities: Designing Sustainable Urban Spaces for All

Citation:

Sánchez de Madariaga, Inés, and Michael Neuman, eds. 2020. Engendering Cities: Designing Sustainable Urban Spaces for All. New York: Routledge.

Authors: Inés Sánchez de Madariaga, Michael Neuman

Annotation:

Summary:

Engendering Cities examines the contemporary research, policy, and practice of designing for gender in urban spaces. Gender matters in city design, yet despite legislative mandates across the globe to provide equal access to services for men and women alike, these issues are still often overlooked or inadequately addressed. This book looks at critical aspects of contemporary cities regarding gender, including topics such as transport, housing, public health, education, caring, infrastructure, as well as issues which are rarely addressed in planning, design, and policy, such as the importance of toilets for education and clothes washers for freeing-up time. In the first section, a number of chapters in the book assess past, current, and projected conditions in cities vis-à-vis gender issues and needs. In the second section, the book assesses existing policy, planning, and design efforts to improve women’s and men’s concerns in urban living. Finally, the book proposes changes to existing policies and practices in urban planning and design, including its thinking (theory) and norms (ethics).

The book applies the current scholarship on theory and practice related to gender in a planning context, elaborating on some critical community-focused reflections on gender and design. It will be key reading for scholars and students of planning, architecture, design, gender studies, sociology, anthropology, geography, and political science. It will also be of interest to practitioners and policy makers, providing discussion of emerging topics in the field. (Summary from Routledge)

Table of Contents:
1.Planning the Gendered City
Inés Sánchez de Madariaga and Michael Neuman

2.A Gendered View of Mobility and Transport: Next Steps and Future Directions
Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris

3.Gendered Mobility Patterns of Carers in Austria
Bente Knoll and Teresa Schwaninge

4.Violence Against Women in Moving Transportation in Indian Cities: Reconceptualising Gendered Transport Policy
Yamini Narayanan

5.Planning Mobility in Portugal with a Gender Perspective
Margarida Queirós and Nuno Marques da Costa

6.Implementation of Gender and Diversity Perspectives in Transport Development Plans in Germany
Elena von den Driesch, Linda Steuer, Tobias Berg, and Carmen Leicht-Scholten

7.Why Low-Income Women in the U.S. Need Automobiles
Evelyn Blumenberg

8.Public Toilets: The Missing Component in Designing Sustainable Urban Spaces for Women
Clara Greed

9.Are Safe Cities Just Cities? A Perspective from France
Lucile Biarrotte and Claire Hancock

10.Everyday Life Experiences of Afghan Immigrant Women as Representation of their Place of Belonging in Auckland
Roja Tafaroji

11.Gender Mainstreaming in the Regional Discourse over the Future of the Ruhr Metropolitan Area: Implementation of Gender Mainstreaming in Planning Processes
Jeanette Sebrantke, Mechtild Stiewe, Sibylle Kelp-Siekmann, and Gudrun Kemmler-Lehr

12.An Analysis of EU Urban Policy from the Perspective of Gender
Sonia De Gregorio Hurtado

13.Gender Mainstreaming Urban Planning and Design Processes in Greece
Charis Christodoulou

14.Gendering the Design of Cities in Aotearoa New Zealand: Are We There Yet?
Dory Reeves, Julie Fairey, Jade Kake, Emma McInnes, and Eva Zombori

15.Gender Impact Assessments, a Tool for the Implementation of the New Urban Agenda: The Case of Madrid Nuevo Norte
Ines Novella Abril

16.Gender and the Urban in the 21st Century: Paving Way to ‘Another’ Gender Mainstreaming
Camilla Perrone

17.Epilogue: Unifying Difference and Equality Concepts to Buttress Policy
Inés Sánchez de Madariaga

Topics: Displacement & Migration, Migration, Urban Displacement, Development, Economies, Care Economies, Economic Inequality, Gender, Gender-Based Violence, Gender Mainstreaming, Health, Infrastructure, Transportation, Urban Planning, Water & Sanitation Regions: Americas, North America, Asia, South Asia, Europe, Central Europe, Southern Europe, Western Europe, Oceania Countries: Austria, Germany, Greece, India, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, United States of America

Year: 2020

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