The direction of gender equality policy in Britain post-Brexit: towards a masculinised Westminster model

Anna Leslie Sanders; Joanna Flavell

doi:10.1080/13501763.2023.2200820

The direction of gender equality policy in Britain post-Brexit: towards a masculinised Westminster model

Anna Leslie Sanders, Joanna Flavell

Politics

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

This article examines gender equality policy in Britain, pre-and post-Brexit. Through a gendered analysis of European Union (EU) directives over forty years, we examine which policies have been key to Britain’s gender equality agenda. We find that the EU’s gender equality framework has been particularly integral to the advancement of ‘class-based’ policies, which seek to ameliorate inequalities that arise from the sexual division of labour. Taken together, we argue that the impact of Brexit risks directly rolling back these class-based gains. This is as a result of a shift away from a more consensual style of policymaking at the supranational level, towards a top-down, adversarial and masculinised Westminster Model, which marginalises women from decision-making fora. As it stands, advancements in gender equality policies are unlikely to be regained in the current political climate due to the absence of the stimulus of the EU for domestic gender equality reform.

Original language	English
Number of pages	23
Journal	Journal of European Public Policy
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2023.2200820
Publication status	Published - 15 Apr 2023

Bibliographical note

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10.1080/13501763.2023.2200820Licence: CC BY-NC-ND

The direction of gender equality policy in Britain post Brexit towards a masculinised Westminster model
© 2023 The Author(s)
Final published version, 1.94 MBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

Cite this

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abstract = "This article examines gender equality policy in Britain, pre-and post-Brexit. Through a gendered analysis of European Union (EU) directives over forty years, we examine which policies have been key to Britain{\textquoteright}s gender equality agenda. We find that the EU{\textquoteright}s gender equality framework has been particularly integral to the advancement of {\textquoteleft}class-based{\textquoteright} policies, which seek to ameliorate inequalities that arise from the sexual division of labour. Taken together, we argue that the impact of Brexit risks directly rolling back these class-based gains. This is as a result of a shift away from a more consensual style of policymaking at the supranational level, towards a top-down, adversarial and masculinised Westminster Model, which marginalises women from decision-making fora. As it stands, advancements in gender equality policies are unlikely to be regained in the current political climate due to the absence of the stimulus of the EU for domestic gender equality reform.",

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