Assessing Advocacy: European Transnational Women's Networks and Gender Mainstreaming

摘要

This study investigates how European women's transnational advocacy networks (TANs) practice advocacy in regard to the gender mainstreaming strategy. Women's TANs face gender mainstreaming in several ways: They are considered to be hubs for organizing public dialogue on gender equality strategies in Europe. Moreover, employing mainstreaming tools has become a requirement for acquiring project funds from the European Union. Many TANs and their member groups thus work with mainstreaming. Finally, women's TANs are well positioned to observe and compare the implementation of mainstreaming through interaction with their national and regional members. The article builds on a series of interviews as well as on web-based data analysis to assess positions and advocacy of five European women's TANs in regard to gender mainstreaming. The findings suggest limited trust in and commitment to the strategy, but also limited advocacy. Women's TANs have developed a strategically distant position regarding gender mainstreaming. Lack of internal capacity, overall resource poverty, as well as prioritizing institutional advocacy, this study suggests, might contribute to weak politicization in regard to the gender mainstreaming strategy.