Research Handbook on Gender Mainstreaming
Will be published approx. on 21. May 2026
Book
Hardback
554 pages
978-1-0353-5341-5 (ISBN)
Description
This comprehensive Research Handbook draws on interdisciplinary approaches to understand the integration of gender+ equality into policymaking worldwide. Leading international experts examine how gender mainstreaming has evolved, why it matters and where improvements can be made.
Contributors engage with the theoretical and practical application of gender mainstreaming across diverse policy areas, such as health, education, climate and migration. Chapter authors discuss key topics including feminist theory, polarization, gender-based violence and decolonization. They also address gender mainstreaming's limitations and potential future, encouraging reflexive and forward-looking thinking in order to ask whether the concept remains a useful and transformative strategy.
The Research Handbook on Gender Mainstreaming is an indispensable reference for students and academics in gender studies, political science, public policy and sociology. It also provides valuable practical tools for practitioners, policymakers and activists involved in advancing gender+ equality.
Contributors engage with the theoretical and practical application of gender mainstreaming across diverse policy areas, such as health, education, climate and migration. Chapter authors discuss key topics including feminist theory, polarization, gender-based violence and decolonization. They also address gender mainstreaming's limitations and potential future, encouraging reflexive and forward-looking thinking in order to ask whether the concept remains a useful and transformative strategy.
The Research Handbook on Gender Mainstreaming is an indispensable reference for students and academics in gender studies, political science, public policy and sociology. It also provides valuable practical tools for practitioners, policymakers and activists involved in advancing gender+ equality.
Reviews / Votes
'From 1995 gender mainstreaming became a key concept for feminist policy practitioners. This Research Handbook explains its evolution and application at all levels of governance and its remarkable global reach, up to and including space policy. An invaluable and timely resource now that gender equality is increasingly contested.' -- Marian Sawer, Australian National University, Australia 'This compelling Research Handbook delivers an authoritative and inclusive account of gender mainstreaming: a pivotal policy tool for advancing gender equality. Spanning diverse regions, cases, and debates, it distills decades of insight into a powerful, accessible resource essential for gender and politics scholars. It is indispensable for anyone committed to transformative policy change and justice.' -- Johanna Kantola, University of Helsinki, FinlandMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cheltenham
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 244 mm
Width: 169 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-0353-5341-5 (9781035353415)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Edited by Sophie Jacquot, Professor of Political Science, UCLouvain Saint-Louis Bruxelles, Belgium, Petra Ahrens, Academy of Finland Research Fellow, Tampere University, Finland, Serena D'Agostino, Senior Researcher in Political Science, University of Antwerp, Belgium, Sonia Palmieri, Associate Professor, Australian National University, Australia and Gisela Zaremberg, Full Professor Researcher in Gender Studies and Political Sociology, Facultad Latino Americana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO), Mexico
Content
Contents
1 Introduction: thirty years of gender mainstreaming - promises, limitations,
and the future of equality 1
Petra Ahrens, Serena D'Agostino, Sophie Jacquot, Sonia Palmieri and
Gisela Zaremberg
PART I? THEORETICAL AND HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES
2 Gender mainstreaming as a driver of feminist theory? From policy to
theory 9
Fiona Beveridge
3 Defining gender mainstreaming: a history of feminist thinking and action 22
Cinnamon Bennett
4 Gender mainstreaming and feminist theory and praxis: an exercise in
reflexivity 35
Heather MacRae and Cherry Miller
5 Gender mainstreaming and the state 47
Gwenaelle Perrier
Spotlight 1
The Beijing Platform: the birth of gender mainstreaming as a feminist
approach? 59
Nava San Miguel Abad
Spotlight 2
The rapid diffusion of gender mainstreaming 63
Hana Hanifah and Jacqui True
Spotlight 3
Gender mainstreaming as a buzzword: the ups and downs of a concept 67
Alison E. Woodward
PART II? ACTORS AND TOOLS
6 Social movement and gender mainstreaming: convergent or divergent? 72
Ana Laura Rodriguez Gusta
7 Gender mainstreaming and public opinion: misuse, polarization and antigender equality views 85
Vera Lomazzi and Isabella Crespi
8 Gender equality machineries as critical actors in gender mainstreaming
across the globe 98
Summer Forester and Amy G. Mazur
9 Gender mainstreaming in parliaments: rule efficacy in the European and
Fijian parliaments 110
Petra Ahrens and Sonia Palmieri
10 The design and implementation of gender mainstreaming: a complex story 122
Petra Meier and Lis Van Herck
11 Breaking barriers: integrating gender perspectives into monitoring,
evaluation, and statistics for meaningful change 134
Thania de la Garza Navarrete and Liv Lafontaine Navarro
12 Gender budgeting as an effective policy and advocacy tool 146
Zorana Antonijevic
13 Gender mainstreaming and legislation 30 years later: the impact of
international action on gender mainstreaming on legislation and gender
outcomes at national level 158
Maria Mousmouti
14 Gender training and gender expertise to support gender mainstreaming 171
Lut Mergaert and Marcela Linkova
Spotlight 4
Gender mainstreaming as democratic innovation 181
Paloma Caravantes and Emanuela Lombardo
Spotlight 5
Femocrats and gender mainstreaming: catalysts for gender equality in
Brazil 186
Simone Bohn
Spotlight 6
Gender mainstreaming in high courts 190
Alba Ruibal
Spotlight 7
Illuminating inequalities and transforming policy through gender impact
assessment 193
Hannah Johnson
PART III? POLICY PERSPECTIVES
15 Gender mainstreaming in social policy 200
Elena Zacharenko and Merita Poni
16 Gender mainstreaming in international cooperation and development
policy 211
Petra Debusscher
17 Women, food safety, and entrepreneurship in rural sub-Saharan Africa 224
Erika Valerio, Valentina C. Materia, Tacko Ndiaye, Ilaria Sisto and
Omnia Rizk
18 Gender mainstreaming in (feminist) foreign policy: a critical analysis on
logics of coloniality 237
Miriam Mona Mukalazi and Fatim Selina Diaby
19 Mainstreaming gender to combat violence against women 250
Hana Hanifah and Jacqui True
20 Gender mainstreaming in climate change policy 262
Gill Allwood and Mariola Acosta
21 Mainstreaming gender in research: between policy gains and political
pushback 275
Marcela Linkova and Lut Mergaert
22 Gender mainstreaming and health policy 287
Rachel Hammersley-Mather
23 Gender mainstreaming in migration policy 299
Jane Freedman
Spotlight 8
Gender mainstreaming and space policy 311
Elise Stephenson
Spotlight 9
Gender equality in an algorithmic society: re-engineering gender
mainstreaming as a legal principle for fair AI 314
Raphaele Xenidis and Birte Boeoek
Spotlight 10
On the energy transition and extractive industries 318
Rosalind Cavaghan
PART IV? INSTITUTIONAL PERSPECTIVES: FROM THE INTERNATIONAL
TO THE LOCAL
24 UN Women's mandate to coordinate gender mainstreaming in the UN
system 323
Annalise Moser
25 The African Union: successes and challenges in translating commitment
into implementation 336
Paula Tavares, Tsion Demissie Bergano and Namira Negm
26 Making waves in the Blue Pacific: gender mainstreaming in and through
Pacific regional institutions 350
Tara Chetty, Josephine Kalsuak, Anita Afford and Margaret Fox
27 Latin America: regional and national challenges 364
Gisela Zaremberg
28 European integration as a gender mainstreaming strategy: the case of EastCentral Europe 376
Barbara Gaweda
29 Gender mainstreaming in federalized Spain: developments and potential
setbacks in the post-Beijing era 388
Alba Alonso and Julia Espinosa-Fajardo
Spotlight 11
The Gender Policy Council and mainstreaming in the United States 399
Ashley English
Spotlight 12
Gender mainstreaming at the local level 405
Zlatiborka Popov-Momcinovic
PART V? LIMITATIONS, CRITIQUES AND WAYS FORWARD
30 The (de)politicization of gender mainstreaming 410
Emanuela Lombardo and Rebecca Tildesley
31 The transformation of gender mainstreaming in times of illiberalism
and de-democratization: the dismantling of gender equality policies in
Hungary 422
Bianka Vida
32 Gender mainstreaming, populism and democratic backsliding: the case of
Brexit 434
Emilia Belknap
33 Overcoming challenges to gender and equality mainstreaming: the
promise of an intersectionality-informed framework in Sweden 447
Olena Hankivsky and Gemma Hunting
34 Decolonizing gender mainstreaming in 'Woman, Life, Freedom' feminist
activism 460
Ladan Rahbari
35 Allies or accomplices? Transforming masculinity in the fight for gender
equality in the Pacific 472
Mercy Masta and Romitesh Kant
36 Rethinking gender mainstreaming in the context of anti-gender opposition
in the EU: intersectional coalition politics and participatory democracy as
the way forward 484
Lucrecia Rubio Grundell and Bruna Cristina Jaquetto Pereira
Spotlight 13
Gender mainstreaming and human rights 496
Joanna Bourke Martignoni
Spotlight 14
Temporal sensitivity in gender mainstreaming 499
Zorica Sirocic
Spotlight 15
Towards inclusive recovery policies: mainstreaming gender and
intersectionality in pandemic policymaking 502
Maria Lopez Belloso and Sofia Strid
Spotlight 16
The critical role of Romani feminism in decolonizing gender
mainstreaming 506
Aldessa Georgiana Lincan
1 Introduction: thirty years of gender mainstreaming - promises, limitations,
and the future of equality 1
Petra Ahrens, Serena D'Agostino, Sophie Jacquot, Sonia Palmieri and
Gisela Zaremberg
PART I? THEORETICAL AND HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES
2 Gender mainstreaming as a driver of feminist theory? From policy to
theory 9
Fiona Beveridge
3 Defining gender mainstreaming: a history of feminist thinking and action 22
Cinnamon Bennett
4 Gender mainstreaming and feminist theory and praxis: an exercise in
reflexivity 35
Heather MacRae and Cherry Miller
5 Gender mainstreaming and the state 47
Gwenaelle Perrier
Spotlight 1
The Beijing Platform: the birth of gender mainstreaming as a feminist
approach? 59
Nava San Miguel Abad
Spotlight 2
The rapid diffusion of gender mainstreaming 63
Hana Hanifah and Jacqui True
Spotlight 3
Gender mainstreaming as a buzzword: the ups and downs of a concept 67
Alison E. Woodward
PART II? ACTORS AND TOOLS
6 Social movement and gender mainstreaming: convergent or divergent? 72
Ana Laura Rodriguez Gusta
7 Gender mainstreaming and public opinion: misuse, polarization and antigender equality views 85
Vera Lomazzi and Isabella Crespi
8 Gender equality machineries as critical actors in gender mainstreaming
across the globe 98
Summer Forester and Amy G. Mazur
9 Gender mainstreaming in parliaments: rule efficacy in the European and
Fijian parliaments 110
Petra Ahrens and Sonia Palmieri
10 The design and implementation of gender mainstreaming: a complex story 122
Petra Meier and Lis Van Herck
11 Breaking barriers: integrating gender perspectives into monitoring,
evaluation, and statistics for meaningful change 134
Thania de la Garza Navarrete and Liv Lafontaine Navarro
12 Gender budgeting as an effective policy and advocacy tool 146
Zorana Antonijevic
13 Gender mainstreaming and legislation 30 years later: the impact of
international action on gender mainstreaming on legislation and gender
outcomes at national level 158
Maria Mousmouti
14 Gender training and gender expertise to support gender mainstreaming 171
Lut Mergaert and Marcela Linkova
Spotlight 4
Gender mainstreaming as democratic innovation 181
Paloma Caravantes and Emanuela Lombardo
Spotlight 5
Femocrats and gender mainstreaming: catalysts for gender equality in
Brazil 186
Simone Bohn
Spotlight 6
Gender mainstreaming in high courts 190
Alba Ruibal
Spotlight 7
Illuminating inequalities and transforming policy through gender impact
assessment 193
Hannah Johnson
PART III? POLICY PERSPECTIVES
15 Gender mainstreaming in social policy 200
Elena Zacharenko and Merita Poni
16 Gender mainstreaming in international cooperation and development
policy 211
Petra Debusscher
17 Women, food safety, and entrepreneurship in rural sub-Saharan Africa 224
Erika Valerio, Valentina C. Materia, Tacko Ndiaye, Ilaria Sisto and
Omnia Rizk
18 Gender mainstreaming in (feminist) foreign policy: a critical analysis on
logics of coloniality 237
Miriam Mona Mukalazi and Fatim Selina Diaby
19 Mainstreaming gender to combat violence against women 250
Hana Hanifah and Jacqui True
20 Gender mainstreaming in climate change policy 262
Gill Allwood and Mariola Acosta
21 Mainstreaming gender in research: between policy gains and political
pushback 275
Marcela Linkova and Lut Mergaert
22 Gender mainstreaming and health policy 287
Rachel Hammersley-Mather
23 Gender mainstreaming in migration policy 299
Jane Freedman
Spotlight 8
Gender mainstreaming and space policy 311
Elise Stephenson
Spotlight 9
Gender equality in an algorithmic society: re-engineering gender
mainstreaming as a legal principle for fair AI 314
Raphaele Xenidis and Birte Boeoek
Spotlight 10
On the energy transition and extractive industries 318
Rosalind Cavaghan
PART IV? INSTITUTIONAL PERSPECTIVES: FROM THE INTERNATIONAL
TO THE LOCAL
24 UN Women's mandate to coordinate gender mainstreaming in the UN
system 323
Annalise Moser
25 The African Union: successes and challenges in translating commitment
into implementation 336
Paula Tavares, Tsion Demissie Bergano and Namira Negm
26 Making waves in the Blue Pacific: gender mainstreaming in and through
Pacific regional institutions 350
Tara Chetty, Josephine Kalsuak, Anita Afford and Margaret Fox
27 Latin America: regional and national challenges 364
Gisela Zaremberg
28 European integration as a gender mainstreaming strategy: the case of EastCentral Europe 376
Barbara Gaweda
29 Gender mainstreaming in federalized Spain: developments and potential
setbacks in the post-Beijing era 388
Alba Alonso and Julia Espinosa-Fajardo
Spotlight 11
The Gender Policy Council and mainstreaming in the United States 399
Ashley English
Spotlight 12
Gender mainstreaming at the local level 405
Zlatiborka Popov-Momcinovic
PART V? LIMITATIONS, CRITIQUES AND WAYS FORWARD
30 The (de)politicization of gender mainstreaming 410
Emanuela Lombardo and Rebecca Tildesley
31 The transformation of gender mainstreaming in times of illiberalism
and de-democratization: the dismantling of gender equality policies in
Hungary 422
Bianka Vida
32 Gender mainstreaming, populism and democratic backsliding: the case of
Brexit 434
Emilia Belknap
33 Overcoming challenges to gender and equality mainstreaming: the
promise of an intersectionality-informed framework in Sweden 447
Olena Hankivsky and Gemma Hunting
34 Decolonizing gender mainstreaming in 'Woman, Life, Freedom' feminist
activism 460
Ladan Rahbari
35 Allies or accomplices? Transforming masculinity in the fight for gender
equality in the Pacific 472
Mercy Masta and Romitesh Kant
36 Rethinking gender mainstreaming in the context of anti-gender opposition
in the EU: intersectional coalition politics and participatory democracy as
the way forward 484
Lucrecia Rubio Grundell and Bruna Cristina Jaquetto Pereira
Spotlight 13
Gender mainstreaming and human rights 496
Joanna Bourke Martignoni
Spotlight 14
Temporal sensitivity in gender mainstreaming 499
Zorica Sirocic
Spotlight 15
Towards inclusive recovery policies: mainstreaming gender and
intersectionality in pandemic policymaking 502
Maria Lopez Belloso and Sofia Strid
Spotlight 16
The critical role of Romani feminism in decolonizing gender
mainstreaming 506
Aldessa Georgiana Lincan