Browsing by Author "Hakomäki, Stina"

This dissertation is a thematic analysis of the concept of gender in the European Union’s Gender Action Plan III. The Gender Action Plan III (GAP III) is the European Union’s action plan on gender equality and women's empowerment (European Commission 2020). I argue that as a Gender Action Plan, gender is a crucial concept of said action plan and as such should be clearly defined. I further argue that gender should not be limited to women and men. I use thematic analysis and Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis to analyse the language and the meaning of the language that deals with gender (equality) in the GAP III. The theoretical framework of this dissertation consists of the theory and literature on Feminist Foreign Policy (FFP). FFP literature is useful because the GAP III can be analysed (and criticised) over a lot of the same themes as governmental feminist foreign policies (Aggestam & Bergman Rosamond 2018; Bernarding & Lunz 2020; Scheyer & Kumskova 2019). These themes include for instance: the concept of gender and militarism (Ibid.). FFP theory and literature aids me in finding relevant themes and issues in the GAP III. As I analyse the concept of gender in the GAP III, I find that it is defined rather insufficiently. I find that it is often reduced to women and girls. I conclude that the GAP III begins with gender but ends up with women and girls.