Engender blog
GUEST POST: A recovery plan which works for women also works for the planet
Claire Duncanson is a Senior Lecturer in International Relations at the University of Edinburgh. She has published widely on issues relating to gender, peace and security, with a particular focus on gender and peacebuilding. Her current work aims to bring a feminist analysis to the political economy of building peace, and she's an active member of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). You can follow Claire on Twitter @cpduncanson, read more blogs at GenderED, and find out about her academic research here.
Engender and Close the Gap’s new paper outlining nine principles for economic recovery provides a valuable roadmap for Scotland to emerge from Covid-19 in ways that address the pandemic’s alarming gendered impacts. However, as important as its ideas are, it fails to make a critical connection, one at the heart of our country’s future. While the paper’s nine principles are offered as a path to a fairer, more just, more equal and inclusive Scotland, they can and must also be understood as providing a strong foundation for addressing and arresting the climate and biodiversity crises. This is an increasingly urgent task given Scotland’s recent rise in carbon emissions and its damaged and depleted ecosystems, but mention of this potential benefit of their approach is surprisingly absent from the paper.
GUEST POST: Brexit - a risk to women's equality, or an opportunity to reshape gender mainstreaming in economic development?
In the week which has seen a further Brexit extension, we host a guest blog from Leanne Wilson, PhD Candidate at the WiSE Research Centre for Economic Justice at Glasgow Caledonian University. Leanne is feminist economist researching the effectiveness of gender mainstreaming as a strategy for advancing gender equality, specifically within the European Structural and Investment Funds and economic development policies in Scotland. You can find Leanne over on Twitter @LeanneWilson82
'Gender mainstreaming' has been an integral strategy for gender equality within the European Structural Investment Funds (ESIF) since the 2000-2006 funding period. Therefore, with Brexit looming and the risk of losing the strategy in economic development policies there is an urgency to assess its effectiveness. Gender mainstreaming was endorsed by the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women and has continued to be the strategy of the EU in many of their policies. The UN define gender mainstreaming as “the (re)organisation, improvement, development and evaluation of policy processes, so that gender equality perspective is incorporated in all policies at all levels and at all stages, by actors normally involved in policy-making”.
It is contested as a strategy as it has been widely debated by feminist researchers for its ability to transform structural inequalities. It is argued that it involves two different structures, ‘gender equality’ and the ‘mainstream’ which are conflicting, and in some instances competing, frames. However, I fear that leaving the EU will derail any success it has had, and therefore I want to highlight any learning from the experience in Scotland which will ultimately inform successor funding. This blog discusses my early research findings and opinion on the success of the Scottish implementation of gender mainstreaming in economic development polices and, therefore, the implications post-Brexit.
Seven principles for a gender-competent Scottish National Investment Bank
Postcard from Brussels: Feminist Economics and the European Women's Forum
Notes on minimum income, universal basic income and gender tax justice
Guest Post: A Citizen’s Income for Scotland?
Guest Post by Annie Miller, Chair of the Citizens' Income Trust
In this post Annie talks about why we need a Citizen's Income, and how it could work in Scotland.
The Citizen’s Income Trust is a think-tank with the object of educating the public about the desirability and feasibility of a Citizen’s Income or Basic Income. A Citizen's Income is like a Child Benefit, but for everyone. It is based on the individual, (not the couple or household), is universal for everyone with the legal right to residency in the country, and is not means-tested. It is unconditional and non-selective.
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Engender Briefing: Pension Credit Entitlement Changes
From 15 May 2019, new changes will be introduced which will require couples where one partner has reached state pension age and one has not (‘mixed age couples’) to claim universal credit (UC) instead of Pension Credit.
Engender Parliamentary Briefing: Condemnation of Misogyny, Racism, Harassment and Sexism
Engender welcomes this Scottish Parliament Debate on Condemnation of Misogyny, Racism, Harassment and Sexism and the opportunity to raise awareness of the ways in which women in Scotland’s inequality contributes to gender-based violence.
Gender Matters in Social Security: Individual Payments of Universal Credit
A paper calling on the Scottish Government to automatically split payments of Universal Credit between couples, once this power is devolved to the Scottish Parliament.
Gender Matters Manifesto: Twenty for 2016
This manifesto sets out measures that, with political will, can be taken over the next parliamentary term in pursuit of these goals.
Scottish NGO Briefing for UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women
Joint briefing paper for the UN Rapporteur on Violence Against Women.
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