An article examined how women's activism contributed to the generation of local capacities and resources; how women attempted to subvert or co-opt emerging patterns of local governance; and how women engaged with strategies of governing and managing local communities. It considered how austerity measures were leading to the closure of many of the spaces of power that previous generations of women had forged.
Source: Janet Newman, 'Making, contesting and governing the local: women s labour and the local state', Local Economy, Volume 27 Number 8
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Nov
An article examined variations in the gender gap in associational involvement in European countries, based on memberships in voluntary associations. There was a 'complex relationship' between societal context and the gender gap in associational involvement. The latter might be another piece in the jigsaw puzzle of overall gender inequality in contemporary societies.
Source: Sascha Peter and Sonja Drobnic, 'Women and their memberships: gender gap in relational dimension of social inequality', Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, Volume 31 publication
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Nov
A report examined how crimes of violence against women were reported in national newspapers, how women were portrayed more broadly, and the general visibility of women in public life. It said that sexism in national newspapers was endemic, and that it led to real harm to, and discrimination against, women.
Source: Just the Women, End Violence Against Women/Eaves/Equality Now/OBJECT
Links: Report | EVAW press release | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2)
Date: 2012-Nov
An article examined the relationship between feminism and democratic renewal. An over-reliance on political representatives and women in power to transform the structural conditions that underlay gender-based injustices (among others) placed high expectations on what individual politicians could achieve: but it also failed to present any challenge to the crisis of elite politics, which was increasingly removed from the experiences of those it represented and might even risk reinforcing it.
Source: Tess Lanning, 'Feminism and democratic renewal', Soundings: A Journal of Politics and Culture, Winter 2012 Issue 52
Links: Article
Date: 2012-Nov
A paper examined the gendered nature of multi-dimensional poverty in European countries. Gender was a prime factor in explaining why some people were at risk of poverty rather than others. The authors computed poverty indexes based on the incomes definitely attributable to individuals in a household (such as income from paid work), and assume only that the rest were equally shared. Based on the resulting 'dependency rate', more than half of all married or cohabiting women were found to be at risk of poverty in a number of countries, including Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and Austria. In the United Kingdom, the figure approached 40 per cent.
Source: Fabrizio Botti, Marcella Corsi, and Carlo D Ippoliti, The Gendered Nature of Multidimensional Poverty in the European Union, Working Paper 12/026, Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, Centre Emile Bernheim (Brussels)
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Oct
A new book provided an overview of the terms, theories, and concepts frequently used in gender studies.
Source: Mary Evans and Carolyn Williams (eds), Gender: The Key Concepts, Routledge
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Oct
A report examined how women were represented on the front pages of the major national daily and Sunday newspapers. 78 per cent of all front page bylines were male, and only 22 per cent were female. Men also dominated the content of the news stories themselves.
Source: Fiona Bawdon, Seen But Not Heard: How women make front page news, Women in Journalism
Links: Report | Guardian report
Date: 2012-Oct
A new book examined the difference that women's movements and feminism had made to experiences and practices of citizenship in Europe; and assessed the state of citizenship in contemporary Europe from the perspective of women, particularly women in minority groups.
Source: Beatrice Halsaa, Sasha Roseneil, and Sevil Sumer (eds), Remaking Citizenship in Multicultural Europe: Women's movements, gender and diversity, Palgrave Macmillan
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Jul
A paper examined the extent to which young women (aged 18-30) experienced freedom in their sexuality and sexual encounters in day-to-day life. In discussions of sexuality, women highlighted dangers and risks involved in sexual activity: they were concerned with sexual reputation, policed through the use of sexual slurs, and the possibly difficult emotional and physical consequences of active sexuality.
Source: Julia Carter, The Sexual Double Standard: Languages of inequality, Working Paper 2, Centre for Applied Social Research (University of Bradford)
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Mar
A new book examined the changing experiences and roles of women in European countries. It looked at topics such as work, professionalization, sexuality, consumerism, migration, and activism.
Source: Joanna Regulska and Bonnie Smith (eds.), Women and Gender in Postwar Europe: From Cold War to European Union, Routledge
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Mar
An article examined how both the practice and the study of politics were 'gendered' in ways that led to an over-representation of men.
Source: Georgina Waylen, 'Gender matters in politics', Political Quarterly, Volume 83 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Feb
A report examined the law, policy, and practice regarding refugee status, asylum procedures, and detention conditions from a gender perspective.
Source: Christel Querton, 'I Feel Like As a Woman I'm Not Welcome': A gender analysis of UK asylum law, policy and practice, Asylum Aid
Date: 2012-Jan
A report highlighted the benefits of the services provided by women's voluntary and community organizations – and the significant savings that they created for the state, local economies, and communities.
Source: Hidden Value: Demonstrating the extraordinary impact of women s voluntary and community organisations, Women's Resource Centre
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Jan