Adopting a critical perspective, this book explores how the concept of gender equality is ‘stretched and bent’ in different ways according to the intervention of policy actors and assesses the consequences of the processes the policy-framing.

1. Stretching and Bending Gender Equality: A Discursive Politics Approach Emanuela Lombardo, Petra Meier and Mieke Verloo 2. The Issue of Intentionality in Frame Theory: The Need for Reflexive Framing Carol Bacchi 3. Beyond the Politics of Location: The Power of Argument in Gender Equality Politics Sylvia Walby 4. Stretching and Bending the Meanings of Gender in Equality Policies Vlasta Jalušic 5. Stretching Gender Equality to other Inequalities: Political Intersectionality in European Gender Equality Policies Emanuela Lombardo and Mieke Verloo 6. Inequality, Intersectionality and the Politics of Discourse: Framing Feminist Alliances Myra Marx Ferree 7. Bending Towards Growth: Discursive Constructions of Gender Equality in an Era of Governance and Neoliberalism Malin Rönnblom 8. Trading-in Gender Equality: Gendered Meanings in EU Trade Policy Jacqui True 9. Stretching, Bending, and Inconsistency in Policy Frames on Gender Equality: Discursive Windows of Opportunity Emanuela Lombardo and Petra Meier 10. Grounding Policy Evaluation in a Discursive Understanding of Politics María Bustelo and Mieke Verloo 11. The Discursive Logic of Ranking and Benchmarking: Understanding Gender Equality Measures in the European Union Mieke Verloo and Anna van der Vleuten 12. Conclusions: A Critical Understanding of the Discursive Politics of Gender Equality Emanuela Lombardo, Petra Meier and Mieke Verloo