"Gendered Integration? A Feminist Analysis of Nordic Membership in the European Union"

Laatikainen, Katie Verlin. (1995) "Gendered Integration? A Feminist Analysis of Nordic Membership in the European Union". In European Union Studies Association (EUSA) > Biennial Conference > 1995 (4th), May 11-14, 1995, pages 28, Charleston, South Carolina.

Abstract

As concerns are raised among members of the European Union about the consequences of enlargement during a period of renewed "Euro-sclerosis', there are parallel concerns in the new Nordic member states about the possible transferrestive aspects that membership will introduce into domestic society. Some of the most vocal skeptics of Nordic membership have been women who express concern about the effect membership will have on their status and position in these "woman-friendly" societies. The perceived threat that these women articulate suggests a new line of inquiry not only for the growing feminist IR literature, but also for integration analysis in general: is European integration gendered? This paper is a condensation of a larger study which examines the socio-political position of women in the new EU member-states Finland and Sweden as well as the policies and structures of the European Union to reveal the impact of the integration process on the lives of women in these Nordic societies. Using a feminist framework for analysis illuminates yet another dimension of the structural "democratic deficit" detailed elsewhere in the European integration literature. In addition this study broadens the Feminist and IR theory interface by extending the subject of feminist inquiry into new areas of IR theory.