Summary
Contents
How can mainstream models and classifications be used in analyzing welfare states and gender? What sorts of modifications to traditional theory are required? These and other questions are addressed in this book - the first to synthesize the insights of feminist and mainstream research in examining the impact of gender on welfare state analysis and outcomes. The text also highlights the effect of welfare state policies on women and men. The international and interdisciplinary contributors approach the subject on two levels. First, they test the applicability of mainstream frameworks to new areas in analyzing gender. Second, they highlight possible reconceptualizations and innovative frameworks designed to provide gender-base
Men's Welfare State, Women's Welfare State: Tendencies to Convergence in Practice and Theory?
Men's Welfare State, Women's Welfare State: Tendencies to Convergence in Practice and Theory?
In 1977, in a ground-breaking book, Elizabeth Wilson pointed to the inadequacy of any analysis of the welfare state which is not based on a satisfactory ‘understanding of the position of women in modern society’ (1977: 59). More than 15 years, and a substantial body of feminist literature later, we have a far better understanding of women's position in society, though as a number of the chapters in this book demonstrate, insights provided by feminist scholarship are not always heeded in mainstream (or as some feminists would term it ‘malestream’) theory and research on the welfare state.
Feminist writers have demonstrated ...