Public Policy Frames and Gender mainstreaming: an analysis of childcare policy in Brazil during the left turn (2003-2016)

Authors

Keywords:

gender, feminism, public policy, frame, childcare policy.

Abstract

Brazil was one of the countries that integrated Latin America’s left turn, a period in which social policies have become central. During the Labor Party’s Government (Partido dos Trabalhadores) (2013-2016), were developed institutional conditions to mainstream gender in public policies, which embraced the issue of the sexual division of labor. However, did it mean an effective reorientation of the childcare policy towards gender equality perspectives? This article aims to reflect upon this question, drawing on the gender mainstreaming concept. It is understood as a process of incorporation of feminist perspectives into the public policy framing, regarding the (re)definition of both the public problem and the course of state action. To do so, we carried out a qualitative study of gender mainstreaming on childcare policy (daycare centers and leaves), focusing on official discourses, mainly through documentary analysis. Based on the results analyzed, we identified the coexistence of two frames: “education and childcare rights” and “promotion of women's economic autonomy”. Since the first one has prevailed, we conclude that gender mainstreaming was marginal in the childcare policy, during the analyzed period.

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Author Biographies

Mariana Mazzini Marcondes, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte

Professor in the Department of Public Administration & Social Management (DAPGS) and on the post-graduate program in Public Management (PPGP) in the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN). She has a PhD in Public Administration from the São Paulo School of Business Administration of the Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV/EAESP).

E-mail: mariana.mazzini.m@gmail.com

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0701-6630

Marta Ferreira Santos Farah, Getulio Vargas Foundation

Professor on the post-graduate program in Public Administration & Government from the São Paulo School of Business Administration of the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV/EAESP).  She has a PhD in Sociology from the University of São Paulo (USP).

E-mail: marta.farah@fgv.br

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6517-3004

Mário Aquino Alves, Getulio Vargas Foundation

Professor on the post-graduate program in in Public Administration & Government from the São Paulo School of Business Administration of the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV/EAESP). She has a PhD in Business Administration from FGV-EAESP.

E-mail: mario.alves@fgv.br

ORCID:  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6819-2585

Published

2021-10-19

How to Cite

1.
Mazzini Marcondes M, Ferreira Santos Farah M, Alves MA. Public Policy Frames and Gender mainstreaming: an analysis of childcare policy in Brazil during the left turn (2003-2016). Organ. Soc. [Internet]. 2021Oct.19 [cited 2024Mar.29];28(98). Available from: https://periodicos.ufba.br/index.php/revistaoes/article/view/33886

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Articles