New Book - Citizenship in an Enlarging Europe

Barbara Einhorn
Citizenship in an Enlarging Europe: From Dream to Awakening
Palgrave Macmillan, 2006, 305.430 EIN

The RSA lecture programme kicks off again in mid-January, with the EU and the role of women in the workforce being two of the first topics up for discussion. These subjects are brought together in the recent book Citizenship in an Enlarging Europe by University of Sussex professor Barbara Einhorn.

The British government is working to promote gender equality in areas such as social participation and employment through legislation and bodies such as the Women and Equality Unit, but how much of an effect is this having on issues such as the gender pay gap, parental rights, and access to high level professional positions? Furthermore, how much resonance will the policy and legislation driven by leading EU nations have in the day to day lives of EU citizens as a whole? Focusing on the Enlargement of the European Union into Central and Eastern Europe, Einhorn discusses the framework set out by the EU for equality between men and women. She argues that, if managed correctly, this represents an opportunity for a process of democratisation, marketisation and nationalism that can improve the status of women in countries that have recently entered the EU or will do so in the near future.

Read the Government Action Plan of the Women and Equality Unit's 'Women and Work Commission', published in September 2006.

Read the European Union Framework for Equality Between Men and Women.