The resonance of moderate feminism and the gendered relations of austerity

Abstract

During the tenure of the UK Conservative‐led coalition government (2010–15) austerity policy was rolled out in response to the global financial crisis of 2007–08. In this article a discourse analysis of mainstream newspaper representations of austerity, which appeared throughout this period, is undertaken using the principles of Cultural Political Economy (Jessop 2004). Three key questions are posed: 1) How is gender drawn upon to render austerity intelligible? 2) How do these discursive constructions contribute to the reproduction of particular ideas regarding contemporary gender relations? 3) What do these gendered austerity discourses reveal about the institutionalisation of particular forms of feminism? A critical gender discourse which emphasised equality appeared alongside constructions of gender that reproduced problematic assumptions. Made meaningful in this way, austerity, as a strategy for restoring pre‐crash social arrangements, also restored particular aspects of gender relations. This is theorised as the product of the successful institutionalisation of a hegemonic, moderate liberal feminism prior to the financial crash. The findings contribute to debates within feminist scholarship about the dynamics of gender inclusion and extend our understanding of the associated implications for feminist critique.

The toll of success: Female leaders in the “women‐friendly” Greek advertising agencies

“…The key premise of this paper is that without collective awareness of the intersections affecting identity, individual success equals collective defeat, re‐affirming rather than challenging male dominance, obstructing rather than enabling change, approaching gender as a biological trait rather than as a organizing principle of the social order (Budgeon, 2019; Hall & Rodriguez, 2003; Pruchniewska, 2018; Weaver‐Lariscy et al., 1994), constituting the exception proving the rule.…”

Periods of austerity: The emergence of ‘period poverty’ in UK news media

“…I used discourse analysis and thematic analysis to analyse this two-year period of coverage. A qualitative and discursive approach was used as ' [d]iscursive methods lend insight into the gendered nature of social conditions' (Budgeon, 2019(Budgeon, : 1142. Following Budgeon (2019Budgeon ( : 1142Budgeon ( -1143 who draws on Reiner Keller, my aim was 'to generate data that demonstrated what could be said about the relationship between gender and austerity and the structure of this expression'.…”

“…A qualitative and discursive approach was used as ' [d]iscursive methods lend insight into the gendered nature of social conditions' (Budgeon, 2019(Budgeon, : 1142. Following Budgeon (2019Budgeon ( : 1142Budgeon ( -1143 who draws on Reiner Keller, my aim was 'to generate data that demonstrated what could be said about the relationship between gender and austerity and the structure of this expression'. Due to the flexibility needed to analyse news media, I drew upon a thematic analysis to examine the data, themes and strands and considered how discourse was circulating through news media.…”

Neoliberal feminism in old age: Femininity, work, and retirement in the aftermath of the Great Recession

“…Feminist critics have engaged with the repercussions of the economic crisis of 2007/2008 on the lived experience of women (see e.g., Ginn (2013); Walby (2015); The Reis (2018)) as well as on post‐recessionary cultural production by, about, and for women (see e.g., Akass, 2014; Budgeon, (2019); Dobson & Kanai, (2019); Tasker and Negra, 2014; and the special issue edited by Berridge & Portwood‐Stacer, [2014]). Indeed, while the crisis was popularly called a ‘mancession’, feminist scholars have critiqued the hypervisibility of men as victims (and women as resilient), by highlighting the multiple ways in which austerity measures, and other policy decisions taken to manage the economic crisis, overwhelmingly affected women's economic circumstances more than men's (Diane & Negra, 2014).…”

“…However, between 2012 and 2019, consecutive Conservative governments (and a Tory/Liberal Democrats coalition) appear to have taken more seriously the issue of gender equality, in part responding to public criticism about the lack of attention to gender issues (Budgeon, 2019). In 2012, the at‐the‐time Home office secretary and Minister for Equalities, Theresa May, launched the Women's Business Council, an industry‐led task force with the objective of ‘advis[ing] the government on how to maximize women's contribution to our future economic growth’ (Government, 2012).…”