2022/05/16 by Anna Elomäki, Johanna Kantola · 1 voice
Social Sciences · #Gender Politics and Representation #Gender, Security, and Conflict #Historical Gender and Feminism Studies
paper · pdf · doi:10.1017/s1743923x21000544
openalex publication_date 2022/05/16 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Abstract The research objective of this article is to analyze the European Parliament’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspective of feminist governance. Feminist governance can either play a role in ensuring the inclusion of a gender perspective in crisis responses, or, quite the opposite, crises may weaken or sideline feminist governance. The empirical analysis focuses on two aspects of feminist governance: (1) a dedicated gender equality body and (2) gender mainstreaming. In addition to assessing the effectiveness of feminist governance, the analysis sheds light on the political struggles behind the policy positions. The article argues that feminist governance in the European Parliament was successful in inserting a gender perspective into the COVID-19 response. The article pinpoints the effects of the achievements of the European Parliament’s Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Committee and gender mainstreaming on gendering the pandemic crisis response.