Search results

In this article I engage with MAGEEQ methodology and theoretical assumptions to raise questions around the following themes: intentionality in political practice, meanings of discourse, and understandings of political subjectivity. I make the case that these topics need to be addressed in order to provide insights into the reasons social change is so difficult to achieve. Specifically, I suggest that feminists adopt a practice of «reflexive framing», examining how they represent social «problems», and broaden feminist constituencies through coalition to reduce the possibility of representing «problems» in ways that exclude or harm «others». ; In this article I engage with MAGEEQ methodology and theoretical assumptions to raise questions around the following themes: intentionality in political practice, meanings of discourse, and understandings of political subjectivity. I make the case that these topics need to be addressed in order to provide insights into the reasons social change is so difficult to achieve. Specifically, I suggest that feminists adopt a practice of «reflexive framing», examining how they represent social «problems», and broaden feminist constituencies through coalition to reduce the possibility of representing «problems» in ways that exclude or harm «others».

Poststructuralism, Discource and Problematization: Implications for mainstreaming. This article introduces a methodology, called 'what's the problem represented to be?' (WPR approach), that facilitates a form of poststructural policy analysis, and applies it to gender analysis procedures in Ireland and the Netherlands. In this methodology policies are understood as discursive practices, imposing specific shapes (called problem representations) on the 'problems' they purport to 'address'. A WPR approach to policy analysis involves identifying the underlying conceptual logics in these problem representations and evaluating them in terms of their implications or effects. It also alerts those involved in designing and implementing gender mainstreaming programs to their location within dominant conceptual frameworks and the subsequent need for a form of reflexive policy practice.

This paper makes a case for extending the scope of ethical reflection and debate in public policy beyond the current tendency to confine ethical scrutiny to the behaviours of individual politicians or public servants, and/or to a restricted set of issues characterized as "moral" issues, decided by "conscience" (eg abortion, euthanasia, etc.). It argues that reflecting on the ways in which public policies construct or represent social "problems" provides a rationale for broadening ethical scrutiny to the basic purposes of government. This is because the ways in which policy "problems" are represented (problem representations) have a range of ethical implications for targeted groups and individuals and for the general population, in terms of people's sense of self-worth, their participation in democratic decision-making, and their ability to live full and meaningful lives. Adapted from the source document.

AbstractThis paper makes a case for extending the scope of ethical reflection and debate in public policy beyond the current tendency to confine ethical scrutiny to the behaviours of individual politicians or public servants, and/or to a restricted set of issues characterized as "moral" issues, decided by "conscience" (eg abortion, euthanasia, etc.). It argues that reflecting on the ways in which public policies construct or represent social "problems" provides a rationale for broadening ethical scrutiny to the basic purposes of government. This is because the ways in which policy "problems" are represented (problem representations) have a range of ethical implications for targeted groups and individuals and for the general population, in terms of people's sense of self-worth, their participation in democratic decision-making, and their ability to live full and meaningful lives.

'Contemporary Australian Feminism' edited by Kate Prichard Hughes is reviewed.