Men and Gender Equality in European Policy

In the last 50 years the role of men in reconstructing  gender relations in Europe has been changing  and recently men are increasingly addressed and named in the process of gender equality policy development – both on institutionalized and non-institutionalized level. Therefore, the main aim of the paper will be a presentation of current institutionalised practices, men’s involvement in gender equality strategies, like gender mainstreaming, as well as men’s participation in international and national networks, organisations and groups in Europe. Identification of specific forms of institutionalised and non- institutionalised practices and politics will be based on the theoretical model proposed by Michael Messner (1997) which served as a base for creating classification according to which men’s politics can be divided into two main types: ‘balanced’ and ‘unbalanced’.

The paper will be based on the results of research project conducted in 2011 and 2012 by the consortium of European researchers: “Study on the role of men in gender equality” founded by European Comission under the specific Progress programme. Data collected by the consortium have been derived from:

• desk and literature research
• European national experts reports
• experts interviews with international experts

The corner stones of the paper will be the overview of institutionalised men’s politics (such as governmental committees, special (sub-)departments in ministries, boards appointed by governments, informal counselling structures, etc) and non-institutionalised men’s networks and groups (international networks, national networks, groups and organisations).