Is the European Commission effectively a champion in gender mainstreaming? The aim of this thesis is to contribute to the existing literature on feminist institutionalism, by attempting to give a...Show moreIs the European Commission effectively a champion in gender mainstreaming? The aim of this thesis is to contribute to the existing literature on feminist institutionalism, by attempting to give a comprehensive explanation as to why the gender mainstreaming strategy has not fulfilled its promises within the EU, and finding answers in its uneven application on the institutional level – in particular, on the level of the European Commission, major promoter of gender equality among the EU institutions. In order to do that, this thesis seeks to analyze a variety of factors which hindered the correct implementation of gender mainstreaming in the European Commission, and in particular: the problematic institutionalization of gender mainstreaming within this institution (both theoretical and empirical); the ineffectiveness of soft policy tools employed by this institution to manage the implementation of gender mainstreaming; the position of the Commission as a role model for other institutions in the implementation of the strategy and the problematic intra-institutional dynamics on gender.Show less
