Wirtschaftskrise in Großbritannien und Deutschland: Geschlechterpolitische Implikationen

The economic crisis is gendered in terms of its causes, impact and responses. A feminist critique of the recent economic crisis highlights the contributory role played by the dominant masculine norms entrenched in capitalism and a lack of women and (gender-)democracy within work organisations. While the initial speculation was that the impact of the recession would hit men more than women (Salam 2009, Rosin 2010), a feminist assessment of the crisis exposes the disproportionate impact of the economic crisis on women. This paper reviews and takes forward the feminist critique of causes of the capitalist crisis and its subsequent gendered impact, particularly in terms of employment. It provides a gendered interdisciplinary analysis of the crisis through empirical examples from the United Kingdom and Germany. It assesses whether states' responses to the crisis have re-gendered the organisation of capitalism in Europe, and shows that policy reforms and budgetary responses have failed to improve gender equality. At best they perpetuate existing gender equalities; at worst they have led to a reversal of gender equality gains.