Paper Titles & Abstracts

The impact of Europe wide cuts on working women should have been predicted but a detailed analysis the cost of inequality has been superseded by "higher political priorities." Political and economic considerations relating to the feasibility of fiscal union, power politics within the EU and the long term impact the crisis on European competitiveness have trumped wider concerns about social and economic cohesion in Europe. In this context equality has become expendable. This paper argues that the overarching failure by policy markers to consider the gendered nature of austerity will have long repercussion on the European equality agenda, particularly in relation to the position of women seeking to reconcile work and family life. This paper reveals how traditional gender models support and enable the politics of austerity. Questions about the impact on social inclusion and gender equality have largely gone unanswered, with grave consequences for the advancement of (substantive) equality in Europe. Calling into question the starting point of this political strategy, this paper will focus on counter narratives that highlight the unintended consequences of austerity on gender equality in Europe