The Gender Gap in Public Support for EU Integration in the CEE Countries. A Theoretical Overview

Abstract

Intersections. EEJSP 2(4): 152-168. DOI: 10.17356/ieejsp.v2i4.269 http://intersections.tk.mta.hu AbstractThe process of EU integration has been researched in some detail, although while feminist scholars agree that gender is a main organizing principle of social relations, the great majority of the related studies have dealt with integration as a gender-neutral process. The few studies that have examined this problem have applied a gender-centric perspective, mainly focusing on Western European countries, while Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) relations -which are fairly different due to the post-socialist heritage of the region -remain under-researched. The present research note provides an overview of the relevant scientific literature on the models of support for integration, first highlighting the previously neglected aspect of gender, and later on describing the factors that make its study difficult in a CEE context. The article argues that, in contrast to the assumption made in prevailing approaches to the topic, EU integration is a highly gendered process and may have special characteristics in CEE countries.

The influence of gender on attitudes towards the EU among the Polish ‘winners of European integration’

“…These findings therefore demonstrate that characteristics such as age, education, and place of residence are important but not sufficient to assess winners of European integration and to explain their opinion about European integration (Liebert, 1999;Torres and Brites, 2006). Gender-related aspects play a role in the perception of European integration and personal benefits resulting from Poland's EU membership (Noe, 2016).…”

“…As a consequence of Poland's communist history, the generation of young citizens born after 1989 has been socialised within a different political and economic reality than their parents but in a still traditional cultural system that impacts on political views and opportunities (Jakubowska and Kaniasty, 2015). Two connected characteristics are still apparent in today's Poland: economic liberalism and cultural conservatism, including a low level of gender equality (Noe, 2016). However, Morokvasic (2004) notes that the post-communist transition towards a market economy and European values has slowly changed the lives of young women.…”

“…Commonly, those perceived as most likely to benefit from European integration are the young and highly educated because of their better qualifications, which make them more competitive in the enlarged EU labour market (Mau, 2005). Referring to these objective sociodemographic variables, most studies exclude gender as an important aspect in predicting attitudes towards the EU (Noe, 2016). Gender is often applied as a control variable and not as an explanatory factor.…”

“…Almost all of these studies, however, focus on Western EU member states and overlook the shifting political and economic context brought by EU membership for women in Central and Eastern European (CEE) (Słomczyński and Shabad, 2003;Noe, 2016). Decades of state socialismand its legacy after the fall of communismcreated powerful continuities and different perspectives on gendered discourses and practices compared to those in Western Europe (Gal and Kligman, 2012).…”