2022/12/31 by Anna I. Cameron, Anna Cameron, Lindsay M. Tedds
Social Sciences · #Feminism, Gender, and Sexuality Studies #Gender Politics and Representation #Gender, Security, and Conflict
paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/capa.12508
openalex publication_date 2022/12/31 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25
Abstract This article traces the theoretical foundations, evolution, and limitations of Gender‐Based Analysis Plus (GBA+), which is the Government of Canada's primary framework for attending to diversity and inclusion in public policy. We argue that GBA+ is, in its current form, inadequate to guide ambitious and transformative policy in the post‐pandemic years given four interlocking issues: (1) a weak integration of intersectionality; (2) insufficient attention to the power structures and socio‐political context undergirding social relations and policymaking; (3) an instrumental understanding of policy; and (4) a misreading of identity. Drawing on feminist, intersectional and post‐structuralist methods, we adjust the GBA+ framework with the aim of addressing the conceptual shortcomings identified in our analysis. Ultimately, we demonstrate how a more explicit engagement with notions of intersectionality, power and policy's instrumental and productive aspects can enrich the ways we think about public policy as both a mechanism and a venue for transformative change.