Emerging gender interest groups in the new member states: The case of the Czech Republic

Abstract

Despite a growing number of approaches and sub-disciplines interested in analysing lobbying and interest representation with a broad set of paradigms, the formation of gender interest groups has remained a marginal area of investigation. Very little has been written about women's lobbies' action in national politics, and scholars' attention has mainly addressed gender interest representation at the supranational level, and its potential consequences for the domestic scene. Regarding the new EU Member States, women's NGOs have received considerable scholarly attention as part of ‘renewed civil societies’ after 1989. However, these approaches have been quite confusing for analysing women's relation to politics in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) since ‘civil society’ does not always mean the same thing and women's groups differ highly from each other regarding the social goals they pursue. Based on a long-term qualitative research project on Czech female political elites, this paper describes the emergence of gender interest groups in CEE countries, mainly through a case study. By identifying the emergence of a multi-level system of gender interests' representation, this paper raises two broad-based questions on which the fate of gender interest groups in East Central Europe depends.

Key words:

• Europeanization
• gender sociological research
• interest representation
• post-Communist societies

Notes

¹ As not only concerned with promoting equality between men and women, but also advocating the rights of sexual minorities. However, since gay and lesbian movements remain weak in Central Europe, our study only addresses women's groups. For an introduction, see Flam (2001).

² Since their beginnings, the perspective of gender studies on women's activism has been connected with second wave feminist theories on the women's movement as a continuous and world-wide emancipation movement. Understandably, such an approach often ended up labelling women's groups with aims and missions that they did not share. Concerning women's groups outside western countries, gender studies adopted the paradigms of democratisation and transition studies, thus analysing emerging women's groups in a functionalist perspective (see Forest, 2004).

³ NGO-isation of former civic groups, women's agencies or informal solidarity networks has constituted a cognitive process in itself, to be characterised as a transformation of social movements into professionalised, issue-specific organisations. For further details see Lang (1997).

⁴ In this paper, I subscribe to a specific definition, which considers Europeanisation from a sociological perspective, as ‘Processes of (a) construction, (b) diffusion, and (c) institutionalization of formal and informal rules, procedures, policy paradigms, styles, “way of doing this”, and shared beliefs and norms which are first defined and consolidated in the making of EU public policy and politics and then incorporate in the logic of domestic discourse, identities, political structures, and public policies’ (Radaelli, 2003, p. 30).

⁵ For an example of sociological approach of Europeanisation, see Jacquot and Woll (2003).

⁶ Renamed Office for Equal Opportunities in 2001.

⁷ For controversial discussions of this conceptual shift in EU gender policies, see Hafner-Burton and Pollack (2000) and Woodward (2003).

⁸ For an approach of Europeanisation in terms of institutional opportunity structure at the domestic level, see Börzel and Risse (2003).

⁹ Besides, the State Secretary for Equal Opportunities was abolished soon after Conservatives' victory in 2005.

¹⁰ Czechoslovakia signed the CEDAW (1979) in 1982 (with some reservations). In 1993, the Czech Republic and Slovakia became members of the Convention, lifting previous reservations made under communism. Additional protocol was adopted in 1999.

¹¹ As Roth (2004) points out, gender was not integrated as a requirement for Phare Access projects until 2002. Moreover, in the Czech Republic, nearly 75% of European funds have been allocated through a national agency, which showed weak interest in initiatives presented by women's groups (Interview with Alena Králiková, 2004).

¹² So far, since 2002, it has notably been the case for most public servants appointed in each Ministry to implement equal opportunities policy.

¹³ Replaced in June 2005.

¹⁴ Professionalisation mainly concerns methods of work and specific skills in dealing with gender issues, rather than drawing regular incomes from daily tasks within these organisations

¹⁵ Among main funding agencies, there are German and Anglo-American institutions (Open Society Fund, Ford Foundation, Friedrich-Ebert Stiftung, Heinrich Böll Stiftung), as well as German and Scandinavian public offices. However, international agencies gradually re-allocated their funding toward former Soviet Republics and the Balkans, as noticed in Gender Audit (2005). Furthermore, some NGOs have been established as national sub-divisions of international networks and thus have benefited from the same financial resources (La Strada, Rosa etc.).

¹⁶ Only the Social-Democrats have a true women's section in the Czech Republic. However, the Communist party and the Christian Democrats are considering re-integrating women's organisations that developed outside the party structures

¹⁷ Other bills regarding domestic violence or registered partnership have nonetheless been introduced by MPs at the Czech Lower chamber, under pressure of gender interests' groups. In 2006, registered partnership was adopted, without any pressure from the EU.

¹⁸ Within the Access 99, Phare 2003 and the Equal (European Social Fund) programmes.

¹⁹ Both enjoyed support from American foundations. The EWWN is based in the USA.

²⁰ Some have considered civil society to become an arena for women's political action. In fact, a huge majority of civic organisations have been headed by women across the region (about 80%). See Jaquette and Wolchik (1998).

²¹ In many cases, what is presented as a part of ‘civil society’ is only a continuation of the ‘grey’ or ‘second’ societies that existed during Communism. See Gal and Kligman (2000).

²² Since then, one out of five members of the executive committee and six out of 28 members of the board of directors come from a new Member State. So far, only Slovenia has not established a national branch of the European Women's Lobby.