Sex Equality Policy in Western Europe (Hardcover, New)

A wide-ranging comparative analysis of the development of sex-equality policies within Europe. The contributors, comprising both European and US-based scholars, address a very current political issue. This is an area of policy that has reached the decision-making stage in much of Europe and it is thus possible to assess the outcome of policy-making and to account for cross-national variations of sex-equality policy measures. The contributors discuss the similarities and differences in levels of awareness, commitment to equality of opportunity and readiness to turn rhetoric into reality in a number of west European countries, including Spain, the Netherlands, Britain, Norway and Ireland. However, they also aim to go beyond an analysis of actual policy in Europe, to discuss the concepts underlying gender equality, many of which are contested both within and between nations and to look at questions surrounding the symbolic or real? status of equality policy. They also explore the question of citizenship and its relationship with welfare regimes, and they look at the hidden dimensions of policy - discussing in particular the impact of nationalism.