‘Non-interference’ implies equality

We propose a new principle of ‘non-interference’ applied to social welfare orderings. The principle, together with two other standard requirements, implies a strong egalitarian conclusion: the ordering must lexicographically maximize the welfare of the worst off. The first version of this paper was written when Mariotti was visiting Bocconi University. Their generous hospitality and financial support through a Research Fellowship is gratefully acknowledged. A previous version of this paper written by Mariotti alone was circulated with the title ‘Liberalism implies equality’. We thank Ken Binmore, Paola Manzini, Juan Moreno Ternero and two referees for helpful comments. The responsibility for any error is our own.     

Paralympics 2012 legacy: accessible housing and disability equality or inequality?

The golden summer of sport is now over, but what is the legacy of London 2012 for disabled people? Nadia Ahmed, a disabled student, discusses the difficulties she has faced in finding accessible accommodation in London. She argues that while the Games are over, the United Kingdom still has lots of hurdles to leap when it comes to disability. The article focuses on her own personal experience of not being able to get wheelchair-accessible accommodation in Tower Hamlets, a London borough that is a close neighbour of Stratford where the Olympic and Paralympic games were held. The article raises questions about disability equality following the Paralympics.     

The canary of the Constitution: same‐sex equality in the public sphere

Nowhere is the paradox between the ideals of the South African Constitution and lived reality more apparent than in public contestations around gender and sexuality. Gay and lesbian equality has come to occupy a symbolic place as a litmus test of the success of constitutional democracy in South Africa. And yet, because gay and lesbian equality is not widely supported, it is also one of the key moral barometers testing the gap between the Constitution and public opinion. This article looks at a series of public hearings held under the auspices of the National House of Traditional Leaders to gauge public opinion on same‐sex marriages. This is used as a case study to explore how sexuality becomes pivotal in debates about nationhood and belonging.     

Gender equality and family changes in the work–family culture in Southern Europe1

The wider context of the trade-off between work and family is not just a matter of changing preferences. The focus of the literature in this area has been strongly concerned with the identification of factors promoting high levels of female employment than with the location of policy determinants of cross-national fertility variation. Work–family reconciliation is considered as a political action that gives quite limited and unstable support to encourage women’s labour market participation, this results in the poor development of external services and in fewer benefits for women, who have to undertake multiple roles inside and outside the family. The Southern European countries (SEC) model take a specific family-oriented approach to work–family reconciliation. They are family-oriented in that they entrust the family with more responsibilities that in other countries and take a conservative/corporatist-family-oriented approach to work–family reconciliation. The key role and the interconnection between fertility and employment among women, as well as the influence of the gender system and, on the whole, of the welfare system depend on the specific culture of different countries. Based on these theoretical premises, this paper reviews the academic discussion of the meaning of work–family balance concept in the cultural context of SEC from a comparative perspective, taking in account the gender equality debate.     

Leading the debate for the business case for gender equality,perilous for whom?

This research examines how the framing of the business case for gender equality (BCGE) in the European Union (EU) translates in the Irish national context and how different actors have engaged with this framing exercise. A central concern is how gender knowledge is mobilized by different actors as they compete to shape discourse, policy and practice on gender equality. We draw upon theoretical work that has interrogated the relationship between neoliberalism, gender inequality and feminist mobilization before reviewing critical assessments of the BCGE. The primary focus of this paper, having mapped this theoretical debate, is to analyse the role different Irish actors and organizations play in reproducing key frames and to examine the ambiguous or ambivalent engagement of different interest groups with this agenda. In turn, we assess the degree to which the agenda enables or disables structural change in access to power. We explore three case studies through which the BCGE in the EU was reinforced, adapted, resisted and rejected in our discussions, and draw out the constraints, opportunities and outcomes in each. Our first case study, which sets the national context for the following case studies, reviews how the Irish state interacts with the EU to frame gender equality and how it partners with key actors (state feminism and femocrats, private actors and feminist actors) to advance the BCGE. The second case study examines the role of the leading Irish feminist civil society organization (CSO) in the Women on Boards campaign that reinforces the dominant instrumental discourse associated with EU and national framing of gender parity on boards, and the ambiguity of feminists about this campaign. The third case study examines how Irish financial elites symbolically engage with gender parity on boards while simultaneously seeking to veto the implementation of gender representation targets proposed in the EU Capital Directive. It is clear that a degree of instrumentality informs most actors’ framing of BCGE. We also find evidence of how power actors and financial elites, while rhetorically engaging in BCGE and employing it when relevant to develop reputational capital, will seek ultimately to protect the status quo rejecting the governance benefits implied in BCGE. Ultimately, our cases illustrate the potential of the BCGE to support the inclusion of women in governance structures yet demonstrate that engaging with BCGE is perilous for some.     

Change agents or defending the status quo? How senior leaders frame workplace gender equality

Senior leaders are usually understood to be ideally positioned to drive the organizational changes needed to promote workplace gender equality. Yet seniority also influences leaders' values and attitudes, and how they interpret evidence of inequalities, determine organizational priorities, and design and implement remedies. This article examines leaders' perceptions of workplace gender equality using system justification theory to explain survey data from Australia's public sector (n = 2292). Multivariate analysis indicates that male and female leaders more positively rate the gender equality climate in their agencies, compared with lower-level staff, and that male leaders show most propensity to defend the status quo. Findings call into question the effectiveness of change strategies that rely on leadership and buy-in of those whose privilege is embedded in existing arrangements, and problematize dominant organizational approaches casting senior leaders as effective change agents for gender equality. The article helps to explain gendered power dynamics, which produce and sustain organizational inequalities and make workplace equality so hard to achieve, and points to ways to strengthen practical approaches to promote equality in organizations.     

One step forward? Advances and setbacks on the path toward gender equality in families and work

Men and women increasingly express egalitarian preferences for organizing family life, but workplace norms and practices are still based on relatively traditional assumptions about the gender division of labor in families. In this article, we unpack this discordant feature of the cultural landscape with recent sociological research on gender, work, and family. We begin by discussing the growing body of evidence on preferences for gender–egalitarian relationships and specify how these egalitarian desires are incongruous with workplace norms and practices. Such a mismatch between desires and reality tends to produce negative personal and career outcomes, including work–family conflict, stress, and job and marital dissatisfaction. Then, we offer a critical review of the recent actions taken by some employers and policymakers to address this issue. We observe some progressive changes in both the public and private sector in regard to family leave policies, flexible work arrangements, childcare support, and fertility benefits, but these policy initiatives still fall short of supporting gender–egalitarian arrangements for working families. We conclude with a discussion of how researchers could better evaluate and increase the effectiveness of workplace initiatives.     

What does care have to do with human rights? Analysing the impact on women's rights and gender equality

Unpaid care work is a critical human rights issue, as well as a major obstacle to gender equality and poverty reduction. This article draws attention to the impact of heavy, intensive, and unequal burdens of unpaid care work on the human rights of women living in poverty, and analyses the relevance of international human rights law to decisions on the necessary responses and remedies. The authors present recommendations for policy and practice – both for national/local governments and for development practitioners – based on human rights law and standards.     

‘Are we to become a gender university?’ Facets of resistance to a gender equality project

Gender equality (GE) is something ‘we cannot not want’. Indeed, the pursuit of equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities for all women and men throughout a society freed from gendered oppression is widely visible in recent organizational GE initiatives. In practice, however, GE initiatives often fail in challenging gendered norms and at effecting deep‐seated change. In fact, GE measures tend to encounter resistance, with a gap between saying and doing. Using a GE project at a Swedish university, we examined the changing nature of reactions to GE objectives seeking to understand why gender inequality persists in academia. We used ‘resistance’ to identify multiple, complex reactions to the project, focusing on the discursive practices of GE. Focusing our contextual analysis on change and changes in reactions enabled a process‐oriented analysis that revealed gaps where change is possible. Thus, we argue that studying change makes it possible to identify points in time where gendered discriminatory norms are more likely to occur. However, analysing discursive practices does not itself lead to change nor to action. Rather, demands for change must start with answering, in a collaborative way, what problem we are trying to solve when we start a new GE project, in order to be relevant to the specific context. Otherwise, GE risks being the captive of consensus politics and gender inequality will persist.     

Protecting difference or promoting equality? US Government approaches to women's rights and the UN Commission on the Status of Women, 1945–50

Abstract

American propagandists and policy-makers throughout the Cold War era embraced the discourse of domesticity and the need to protect women as key markers of difference between the United States and the Soviet Union. However, with the establishment of the United Nations institutions, legislation and discourse on women's equality emerged, which prioritized equality over the protection of difference. This article will explore how the United States sought to negotiate between these two competing strands in women's status. It will focus on the relationship between the US government, particularly the State Department, and Dorothy Kenyon, the first US delegate to the Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations. It will demonstrate that, whilst Kenyon became increasingly convinced of the need for the USA to embrace a more proactive position on international women's rights, the US government's position remained dismissive and superficial.     

‘I’m not an activist’: an exploratory investigation into retired British Paralympic athletes’ views on the relationship between the Paralympic games and disability equality in the United Kingdom

One claim of the UK Government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport is that the London 2012 Paralympic Games ‘improved attitudes to disability and provided new opportunities for disabled people to participate in society’. In addition, the International Paralympic Committee’s strategic plan suggests that the Paralympic Games is a vehicle for achieving ‘a more equitable society’. The aim of this study was to examine the reflections of a group of retired British Paralympic athletes on the relationship between the Paralympic Games and disability equality in the United Kingdom. Narrative interviews were conducted with five male retired British Paralympians and one female retired British Paralympian who had participated in a total of 22 Summer Paralympic Games events. I will argue that some Paralympic athletes who are not obvious ‘activists’ can still contribute to equality for disabled people.