Revising McPhail’s Feminist Policy Analysis Framework

Abstract

In 2003, McPhail published a Feminist Policy Analysis Framework concluding that the many available methods of policy analysis across disciplines, including social work, treated policies as gender-neutral compositions. McPhail (2003) asserted that these methods denied the many ways that institutions and policies of society are organized by the concepts of gender, therefore presenting incomplete products of analysis. This guiding purpose for the development of McPhail’s (2003) Feminist Policy Analysis Framework endures a full fifteen years later. In the years since publication of McPhail’s Framework, advancements have been made in both feminist theory and in policy analysis methods. This conceptual article outlines a much-needed revision moving the framework into a contemporary position with the inclusion of a focus on privilege, oppression, and intersectionality. The revised framework presented herein is a more conceptually comprehensive and practical model for use by all, but particularly social work students and scholars. The revised model represents an update rendering it more effective in today’s polarized political climate as well as with the recently revised social work educational policy (Council on Social Work Education, 2015). A revised framework of Feminist Intersectional Policy Analysis is presented, including guiding questions and conceptual complexities to consider in the work of analysis.

Nutrition security and traditional food markets in Africa: gender insights

“…Recent literature concerning a gendered perspective on addressing nutrition has provided insight into how the framing of gender is important. Gender is typically used as a static, homogenous concept which can be good as an entry point into understanding its influences, but could be further expanded to a more intersectional lens in order to more fully encapsulate the experience in markets and food production (Kanenberg et al, 2019;Tavenner et al, 2022;Vercillo et al, 2023). This could offer a useful way with which to explore both male and female experiences regarding market food practices and nutrition, especially as the literature showed how interactions between men and women influences their experiences at the market (Mudege et al, 2017;Moreau and Garaway, 2021;Bokelmann et al, 2022).…”

Will policy help close the digital gender divide? An intersectional feminist policy analysis of Ethiopia's national digital policy

“…The second step involved analysing the policies themselves, making explicit connections to the policy context when relevant. An intersectional feminist policy analysis framework was adapted from Kanenberg et al (2019) to guide the first-stage analysis, positioning gender as a fundamental category for analysis and emphasizing analysis of differences, local context, specificity, and historicity. To adapt this, the topics of the original framework, as well as the suggested questions for each topic, were filtered according to their relevance to the research questions; the selected topics as well as their relevance to the analysis are shown in Table 1.…”

“…It is worth noting one key limitation of this methodology: the gendered analysis does not have an explicit consideration of the impacts of the policies on men. Gender is a performative and relational concept in which men play an important role in the oppression of women through, for example, the reinforcement of gender norms, and TA B L E 1 The topics framing the intersectional feminist policy analysis as adapted from Kanenberg et al (2019).…”

“…Intersectionality explains how the interconnection of social identity categories such as race, ability, sexuality, and gender work simultaneously to create experiences of marginalization and privilege (Crenshaw, 1989). If those not represented by a particular social category are not given a voice, policy-makers risk oversimplifying policies by assuming that each feature of identity perfectly captures some shared experiences (Kanenberg et al, 2019).…”

Nourishing the Nexus: A Feminist Analysis of Gender, Nutrition and Agri-food Development Policies and Practices

“…This inadequacy results in continued uneven socioeconomic and spatial vulnerabilities to stressors, shocks and disasters, like that of COVID-19 where we have seen a steep rise in hunger, particularly for women (Clapp et al 2020 ; FAO 2022 ; Gengenbach et al 2018 ). Further feminist analysis of how policy narratives inform interventions and shape people’s daily lives are also essential for transforming gender disparities (Kanenberg and Leal 2020 ; McPhail 2003 ).…”