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Cited by 610Discrimination and Equality LawFeminist Theory and Gender StudiesGender, Health, and Social Inequality

Multiple inequalities, intersectionality and the European Union

Open access
Verloo, Mieke·2006·European Journal of Women's Studies
DOI 10.1177/1350506806065753
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Abstract

The European Union (EU), a pioneer in gender equality policies, is moving from predominantly attending to gender inequality, towards policies that address multiple inequalities. This article argues that there are tendencies at EU level to assume an unquestioned similarity of inequalities, to fail to address the structural level and to fuel the political competition between inequalities. Based upon a comparison of specific sets of inequalities (class, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation and gender), this article explores where and how structural and political intersectionality might be relevant. It argues that a ‘one size fits all’ approach to addressing multiple discrimination is based on an incorrect assumption of sameness or equivalence of the social categories connected to inequalities and of the mechanisms and processes that constitute them. Focusing on similarities ignores the differentiated character and dynamics of inequalities. It also overlooks the political dimension of equality goals. Moreover, it has become clear that attention to structural mechanisms and to the role of the state and the private sphere in reproducing inequalities is much needed. The final part of the article presents constructive ideas for a more comprehensive way of addressing multiple inequalities.

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  • LGBTI people embody the group with the fewest institutional mechanisms for applying pressure at the European level.

    “Not only do LGBTI people represent a group with many crosscutting identities, but also some have argued that they embody-when compared to the representation of other social categories such as class, race/ethnicity, and gender-the group with the fewest institutional mechanisms for applying pressure at the European level (Verloo 2006).”

    From Intersectional and Transnational Coalitions during Times of Crisis: The European LGBTI Movement (2019) · cites this paper as Verloo 2006

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Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. [5]5. Bell, Mark (2004) Critical Review of Academic Literature Relating to the EU Directives to Combat Discrimination. Brussels: European Commission.
  2. [36]36. Verloo, Mieke and Maro Pantelidou Maloutas, eds (2005) 'Differences in the Framing of Gender Inequality as a Policy Problem across Europe', special issue of The Greek Review of Social Research 118.
  3. [41]41. Mieke Verloo is lecturer in political science and women's studies at the Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands, affiliated to the Department of Political Science and to the Institute for Gender Studies. She is also non-residential perma- nent fellow at the IWM, Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna, where she acts as research director for comparative gender equality research financed by the European Commission (see www.mageeq.net). Her work has been published in the Nether- lands Journal of Social Sciences, International Management and the Inter- national Journal of Comparative Sociology. Recent publications are: 'Displacement and Empowerment: Reflections on the Council of Europe Approach to Gender Mainstreaming and Gender Equality', Social Politics, 2005; Another Velvet Revolution: Gender Mainstreaming and the Politics of Implementa- tion, in the IWM Working Papers series; with Yvonne Benschop, 'Sisyphus' Sisters: Can Gender Mainstreaming Escape the Genderedness of Organizations?', Journal of Gender Studies; with Conny Roggeband, 'Evaluating Gender Impact Assessment in the Netherlands (1994-2002): A Political Process Approach', Policy and Politics; with Judith Ezekiel, she edited 'The Traffic in Feminism: Contempor- ary Women's Movements in Europe', special issue of European Journal of Women's Studies, 2002, and with Maro Pantelidou Maloutas, she edited 'Differences in the Framing of Gender Inequality as a Policy Problem across Europe', special issue of Greek Review of Social Research, 2005. She has lectured at several summer schools, including Ljubljana (2001), Cluj (1996), Probezjne (1995) and Sulejow (1992). Address: Radboud University Nijmegen, Department of Political Science, P. O. Box 9108, 6500 HK Nijmegen, the Netherlands. [email: verloo@iwm.at] ◆ European Journal of Women's Studies 13(3)

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Authors
Verloo, M.
Affiliations
Radboud University Nijmegen (NL)
Corresponding author
Verloo, Mieke
ORCID
Verloo, Mieke
Venue
European Journal of Women's Studies
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2006-08
Volume
13
Issue
3
Pages
211-228
ISSN
  • 1350-5068 (ISSN-L)
  • 1461-7420
DOI
10.1177/1350506806065753
OpenAlex
W2142762342
Cited by
610
References
32
Citations by year
2026: 10 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 40 · 2022: 31 · 2021: 32 · 2020: 28 · 2019: 37 · 2018: 33 · 2017: 35 · 2016: 38 · 2015: 29 · 2014: 33 · 2013: 47 · 2012: 44
FWCI
349.77
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations
  • European Journal of Women s Studies (publishedVersion)
  • Radboud Repository (Radboud University) (submittedVersion)
  • HAL (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • Social Science Open Access Repository (GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences) (submittedVersion)
  • Trinity's Access to Research Output (TARA) (Trinity College Dublin) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Law › Discrimination and Equality Law
  • Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Feminist Theory and Gender Studies
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Gender, Health, and Social Inequality
Keywords
intersectionality, multiple inequalities, gender equality, class inequality, racial and ethnic inequality, sexual orientation, structural discrimination, one-size-fits-all approach, private sphere, social categories

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