The Centro de Estudios de Género y Feministas (Centre for Feminist and Gender Studies) has launched Atlánticas, Revista Internacional de Estudios Feministas (International Journal for Feminist Studies), with the support of the Universidade da Coruña. With this digital publication we wish to contribute, along with journals from other Spanish universities, to the spreading of the feminist theory and of gender studies. The distinguishing marks in this journal are intellectual rigour and ideological plurality.
Atlánticas, however, not only addresses the university environment but also the civil society, since we are aware that feminist thoughts can only happen if there is an active, critical and plural feminist movement. We consider that political theory and practice are inextricably bonded. Likewise, this journal is not aimed to the academic community and the civil society in Spain and Portugal but also to the university and social spaces in Latin America, Central America and the Caribbean
Feminist economy opens a window to reflection, research and political action regarding the most remarkable axes of feminist critique on mainstream economy. In this sense, the critique covers a variety of dimensions and levels that are interrelated and go from macro and structural aspects of the global system to the effects on women’s and men’s living conditions, as well as other crises such as that happening in care, the environment or in democracy.
An interesting focal point is highlighting, from the gender perspective, the interweaving of unequal power relationships and its influence on employment markets, care and the distribution of the time men and women use for production and reproduction. Feminist conclusions on economic crisis cycles in general, and on adjustment policies developed on the grounds of the ‘great crisis’ starting in 2007/2008, respond to this line of work.
The transformational perspective is implicit in all dimensions of the feminist critique, albeit explicit among certain approaches on a change of the society model. The target of life sustainability as a priority of public policies emerges along with other alter-globalist approaches with regard to questioning patriarchal relationships.
The much needed dialogue between the alternatives and the approaches given by feminist economy pivots on a variety of axes, among which there is persistence or thinning of sexual division of work is of central importance. The direction of public policies and the practice of institutionalising the gender equality approach are regarded, from the view of feminist critique, as useful tools for a process of change of the imposed gender social order.
This first issue of the ATLÁNTICAS journal includes a case study on Feminist Economy that shows, as a whole, an account of the situation and of the most relevant points of view.
This paper applies a feminist analysis to the study of the impacts of the crisis and austerity policy on the work and living conditions of women and men, along with the extent to which gender and other related inequalities are being modified. The refamiliarization of care, resulting from welfare cuts and privatization, along with an increase in job uncertainty and precarity are limiting the wellbeing of women, and their present and future opportunities. All this might endanger the fragile advances achieved in terms of gender equality.
This article has two objectives. On the one hand, continue the reflection on the idea of sustainability of life as a multidimensional concept, recovering the ideas of reproduction and care work. And, secondly, to stress the need for dialogue with perspectives who share the goal of the centrality of life. The disagreements with these perspectives are mainly located in naturalized patriarchal relations in our societies.
The so-called "gender equality policies" do not meet women's needs nor do they have a significant impact on the gender gap because they don't address its root cause, namely, the sexual division of labor (SDL). By concentrating on any aspect of inequality as an isolated phenomenon, they make it difficult to understand either the nature of the problem or its solution.
However, the SDL is neither natural nor unavoidable. On the contrary, existing evidence allows us to envision several concurrent ways to eliminate it. All we need to set up is the material conditions that enable women to grant access to quality employment and the social rights that ensure men can assume their fair part of care work.
Inequality between men and women persists in the Spanish labor market, as shown by all available indicators. Discrimination against women is not accidental nor cultural but a direct result of their specialization in social care work and other household chores. The sexual division based on the male breadwinner model (specialized in employment) and female caregiver (maximum charge of domestic loads), ultimate cause of inequality in employment, originates and is consolidated at the end of youth. Identify the cause and the age in which it manifests itself allows making concrete proposals for action in favor of employment equity.
This article tackles some appearances on how the 'social norms or expectations' built from the rooting in the sexual differentiation can be encouraged or diluted according what is the orientation of the public policies, that is the importance to consider the potentiality gender-transformative of the public policy, it does mean taking in account the gender impact that it will have on the 'social norm' based in the sexual division of the labor.
The article collects a feminist approach to the comparative analysis of the (maternity, paternity and parental) leaves system in 27 European countries, like a piece of public policies to promote equity by uses of time between women and men, and implications of the attention and the care after the birth of a baby. Evidences found show that not all the parental leave policy have potentiality enough to influence in the sexual division of the labor in the same direction; there are combinations of normative elements of the parental leave systems that promote changes the gender roles and there are other combinations based on the gender social norms, being able to reinforce them even more.
This paper seeks to asses some of the elements that most significantly contributed to the institutionalization of Gender Responsive Budgeting in Latin America. The article briefly describes the context in which these initiatives emerge in the region and then analyzes the elements through which they became part of regular practices linked to the budgetary process. While no single recipes can be applied to the promotion of gender budgeting, such elements, adapted to each context and reality, can constitute examples of good practices to support other experiences in enhancing the incorporation of gender equality as a fundamental principle for public resources management.
Although advances in equality of women and men have been the great social change since the adoption of the Spanish Constitution, including constitutional reform issues that transcend political and social debate is virtually absent feminist perspective. A constitutional change from this perspective involves a "constituent reform" as a result of the consideration of two key issues: the consequences of public-private division of the spaces where they produce and reproduce the various human relationships, and recognition of political and legal subjectivity for women.
In the article we analyze like the patriarchy, understood as a political, economic and cultural order, keeps on being domineering and, therefore, offering obstacles to the gender equality. These obstacles derive from a model of hegemonic masculinity that perpetuates asymmetric relations and a cultural order based on the women subordination. Religions constitute an essential factor in the patriarchy reproduction. Hence we need to submit them to a feminist criticism; likewise it is urgent to check the construction of the virility in the social systems where man is the paradigm and a privileged subject.
This article advances in characterization and historicizing of lesbians movement in Latin America through trace what I consider "axes of fundamental disputes" that we have had at the regional level. I show the way in which these disputes and dilemmas experienced at the level of political practice are related to disputes at the level of the development of ideas about sexuality, gender and the interpretations of the oppression developed by current, circulating theories in Latin America. Start proposing some hypothesis that welfare construction of a method to analyze and historicize the lesbian movement at the regional level. Since the work was written at two different times of the development of my ideas I conclude showing academic dependency problem and the need to observe our movements from a critical geopolitical analysis of coloniality.
Asunción Bernárdez Rodal, A. (2015). Mujeres en Medio(s). Propuestas para analizar la comunicación masiva con perspectiva de género. Madrid: Editorial Fundamentos.
Salazar Benítez, O. (2015). La igualdad en rodaje: Masculinidades, género y cine. Madrid: Editorial Tirant lo Blanch.
