Resumen de Gender Equality in the Regional Development Discourse — Only Rhetoric Modernisation? Austrian Experiences
Gender equality is rarely present in regional development discourse in many European Union member states. Regional policy and rural development policy are still perceived by many stakeholders — politicians, programme developers, civil servants, local and regional actors — as gender neutral policy fields without impact on gender inequalities in society. Nevertheless, in political practice it is obvious that programmes and measures often reproduce significant levels of gender inequality (European Parliament 2007, Squires 2007). The commitment to the implementation of gender equality in the Structural Funds and Rural Development Programmes of the European Union since the early 1990s stands in stark contrast to the gender-specific outcomes. In regional development discourse gender equality 1 and the strategy of gender mainstreaming 2 are often no more than rhetorical references rather than an integral part of programmes (PPMI 2009, Oedl-Wieser 2015, Bock 2015). With regard to the manifold structural problems in rural areas throughout the European Union — limited added value, low employment rates, poor standards of social infrastructure and widespread demographic decline — it appears essential that regional policy and rural development policy engage in an integrative approach. Policy makers cannot continue building almost exclusively on sector wide policies and have to consider other economic, social, cultural and environmental aspects, reflecting the diversity in rural society.
