Policy Press

Gender regimes in transition in Central and Eastern Europe

By Gillian Pascall and Anna Kwak

Published

May 1, 2009

Page count

232 pages

ISBN

978-1847424204

Dimensions

234 x 156 mm

Imprint

Policy Press

Published

Nov 30, 2005

Page count

232 pages

ISBN

978-1861346254

Dimensions

234 x 156 mm

Imprint

Policy Press
Gender regimes in transition in Central and Eastern Europe

Understanding of welfare states has been much enriched by comparative work on welfare regimes and gender. This book uses these debates to illuminate the changing gender regimes in countries of Central and Eastern Europe. It has particular significance as countries in the region make the transition from communism and into a European Union that has issues of women's employment, work-life balance, and gender equality at the heart of its social policy.

The analysis draws on quantitative comparative data, and on rich qualitative data from a new study of mothers in Polish households, illuminating the effects of changing welfare and gender relations from the perspective of those most directly affected - mothers of young children.

This book is an important addition to the literature and is recommended to academics and students interested in the study of gender relations, welfare states, and international and comparative European social policy. The insights gained will also be of value to those engaged in welfare policy and practice.

"The authors skillfully combine quantitative and qualitative data and the book successfully shows that gender-based typologies of welfare regimes can be used to compare Central, Eastern and Western European countries." Journal of Social Policy

"An innovative yet undogmatic book that summarises the emergent gender regimes of two regions with unprecedented changes. Written by leading experts in the field, it is a highly authoritative account." Andrea Peto, Department of Gender Studies, Central European University, Hungary

Gillian Pascall is Professor of Social Policy at the University of Nottingham, UK. She has a long-standing interest in the relationship between gender and welfare states. Anna Kwak is a professor in the Institute of Applied Social Sciences, University of Warsaw, Poland. She has written widely on the family and on children's rights.

Contents: Introduction: gender and the family under communism and after; Gender regimes in Central and Eastern Europe; Policy and parents in Poland; Mothers and the state; Mothers and their households; Mothers and social policy; Gender equality in the wider Europe; Conclusion.