Unit 5
Feminist Critiques and Contributions

Unit 5 provides an overview of feminist contributions to policy studies. Recognizing that some students will be unfamiliar with feminist theory, the commentary in Unit 5 reviews core feminist analytical assumptions then looks in some detail at a number of theoretically important issues raised by feminist scholarship. You will be introduced to feminist thinking on the way that political ideas, political identities and political interests are socially (and discursively) constructed. There is a discussion of feminist thinking on the importance of identity and voice in policy-making. Finally, the commentary examines the claim that state policies and programs have different consequences for people in different social locations, including women relative to men.

The first assigned reading covers much the same ground as the commentary. The second reading examines Canadian policy studies in light of the well-established feminist critiques of traditional perspectives. The third reading examines social policy reform in the context of the economic restructuring that has been associated with economic globalization. While that paper argues that Canadian social policies have been ‘harmonized down’, it stresses that the consequences have been disproportionately negative for women.

Learning Objectives

When you have completed Unit 5 you should be able to achieve the following learning objectives.

1. Outline some of the core feminist analytical assumptions.
2. Discuss how political identities and meaning are socially constructed through discursive struggle.
3. Comment on the differential consequences of public policy, and related this to the importance of voice and representation in policy-making.
4. Recognize when policy scholarship lacks a ‘gender analysis’.