| Review of: | New Pathways in International Development: Gender and Civil Society in EU Policy edited by M. Lister, M. Carbone |
|---|---|
| Reviewed By: | Giulia Pietrangeli |
| Reviewed in: | Journal of Common Market Studies |
| Date accepted online: | 02/11/2007 |
| Published in print: | Volume 45, Issue 2, Pages 515-533 |
Book Reviews
Europe's relations with the developing world are as old as the European Community itself. The shape and the content of these relations have been defined by a long series of agreements and declarations with general and regional scope. Policy commitments, however, have not always been translated into practice and EU development assistance has often been criticized for its lack of effectiveness in implementation.
The section on gender comprises six chapters. Whereas the first provides a general overview, the following chapters take regional perspectives and describe the specific policy frameworks that the EU has developed with the Africa Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, Latin America, Mediterranean countries, Asia and Central and Eastern Europe. The authors recognize that the regional policy frameworks, as well as country and regional strategy papers, have increasingly included references to gender mainstreaming. However, the implementation of this objective is seriously lagging behind in all the regions. The contributors identify a series of explanations for this, including inadequate funding; lack of technical expertise and specific data; and overlapping and often conflicting mandates of the Commission's Directorate Generals dealing with third countries. However, they also point to a deeper problem that is the predominant efficiency approach that leads EU policymakers to see gender equality not as an objective per se, but rather as a means of fighting poverty.
The section on civil society is similarly structured and is introduced by one overview chapter followed by five regional ones (ACP, Africa, Mercosur, Mediterranean countries, ASEM) and a concluding chapter on European NGOs. The contributors to this part also point out that the problem of policy evaporation and disappointing implementation can be attributed mainly to the lack of adequate funding. However, as in the case of gender, the authors express their concern for the fact that the promotion of civil society has been pursued by the EU mainly in view of fostering neo-liberal reforms and trade liberalization.
The strength of the collection is the empirically nuanced account of how the EU has not been able to effectively mainstream gender and civil society in its relations with countries worldwide. It seems less convincing in establishing a conceptual link between these two issues and the general framework of the EU development policy. The book would have also been enriched by including a chapter on the approach to civil society in the enlargement process to Central and Eastern Europe, which, despite not being part of the so-called developing world, represented an important testing ground for the EU