The triumph of instrumental over equality policy in European employment policy^*

This article presents an overview of shifts in European Union (EU) gender equality policies since the 1990s. It shows that attention to gender equality was increasingly justified on instrumental grounds, for example by promoting childcare provision to enable women to do wage work. After the 2008 crisis, all policy came to be justified on efficiency (growth) grounds, and EU policies – such as advocating cuts to public expenditure and public-sector wages – actively undermined gender equality. The article urges feminists not to rely on gender mainstreaming but to develop a broad-based coalition against neoliberal and austerity policies.