(Re)defining women’s interests? Political struggles over women’s collective representation in the context of the European Parliament

Abstract

The Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM) of the European Parliament is one of the key actors within the European Union (EU) institutional framework for gender equality policies. In the context of this Committee, women’s interests are continuously being (re)defined by discursive and deliberative processes. Civil society actors are being included into these processes of policy-making through institutional funding and public hearings. Through the inclusion of particular organizations and the selection of experts for hearings, existing meanings are being reproduced and/or challenged. The article argues that battlegrounds have been (re)opened in recent years as dominant discourses are questioned by the inclusion and legitimation of new civil society actors. Both the FEMM Committee, as a feminist stronghold, and the established women’s organizations at the EU level are being challenged. It becomes contested who the gender experts are, and diverse understandings of gender equality and women’s interests are being articulated.