Intersectionality in European Union policymaking: the case of gender-based violence
| Author | Emanuela Lombardo,Lise Rolandsen Agustín |
| Published date | 01 November 2016 |
| Date | 01 November 2016 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0263395716635184 |
| Subject Matter | Special Section: Intersectionality and Political Science ResearchGuest Edited by Silvia Erzeel (Université catholique de Louvain; University of Antwerp) and Liza Mügge (University of Amsterdam) |
Politics
2016, Vol. 36(4) 364 –373
© The Author(s) 2016
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DOI: 10.1177/0263395716635184
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Intersectionality in European
Union policymaking: the case
of gender-based violence
Emanuela Lombardo
Madrid Complutense University, Madrid, Spain
Lise Rolandsen Agustín
Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark
Abstract
Inclusiveness of different social groups and responsiveness to the needs of increasingly diverse
societies are key criteria for policy analysts to assess the quality of public policies. We argue
that an intersectional approach attentive to the interaction of gender with other inequalities is
particularly apt to deal with equality and diversity in policymaking. By analysing a selection of
European Union policy documents on gender-based violence in the period 2000–2014, we attend
to the question of what intersectionality can bring to policymaking in terms of strengthening
inclusiveness and address the methodological question of applying an intersectional approach to
policy analysis.
Keywords
European Union, gender-based violence policies, intersectionality, policy analysis
Received: 23rd February 2015, Revised version received: 21st May 2015; Accepted: 14th July 2015
Introduction
Policy analysis examines both governmental interventions aimed at addressing societal
problems (Anderson, 2006; Dye, 1972), and biases and power relations that policymak-
ing itself produces (Bacchi, 1999; Hawkesworth, 1994). We argue that the quality of such
interventions is based on the capacity of public policies to be inclusive of different social
groups and responsive to the needs of increasingly diverse societies. Greater inclusive-
ness can thus promote the aim of any policy to address societal problems, especially those
experienced by the less privileged, challenge gender and other equality biases existing in
policymaking, and in these respects also contribute to producing policies that are more
Corresponding author:
Lise Rolandsen Agustín, Department of Culture and Global Studies, Aalborg University, Kroghstraede 3,
5.261, 9220 Aalborg OE, Denmark.
Email: lisera@cgs.aau.dk
635184POL0010.1177/0263395716635184PoliticsLombardo and Rolandsen Agustín
research-article2016
Special Section Article
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