The emergence and changing nature of a polysemic category: European resources in the field of reconciliation between paid work and private life

European policies regarding the reconciliation of paid work and private life have undergone substantial changes since the 1950s. This paper analyses how European resources related to reconciliation policies have been incrementally developed through layering and conversion processes. Three phases can be distinguished. Beginning with early initiatives at the Community level, reconciliation policies transformed into an instrument of equality policy and finally an instrument of employment policy. Beyond tracing these historical developments, the paper addresses the various definitions of reconciliation and their different functions as cognitive and legitimising resources. It suggests a larger and encompassing definition of reconciliation in order to acknowledge the potentially diverse and numerous usages of Europe by domestic actors

A Means to a Changing End. European Resources: The EU and the Reconciliation of Paid Work and Private Life

European resources related to reconciliation policies have been incrementally developed and transformed. Three main phases of this process can be distinguished in the progressive institutionalisation and evolution of this field of action at the EU level. At first, the reconciliation issue appeared on the European agenda as a spillover interpretation of ‘equal treatment’. It then acquired greater autonomy, becoming an equal opportunity policy, leading to the development of various (legal, financial, cognitive and political) instruments around the objectives of improving work/family balance and the division of labour between women and men. Finally, this field has been converted into an economic employment policy field aimed at modernising welfare systems and guaranteeing budgetary sustainability through increases in fertility rates and, most importantly, female employment rates. However, this has come at the expense of the initial gender equality goals. The conclusion underlines the diverse and evolving meanings of the ‘reconciliation’ issue and its orientation. This diversity in meanings and orientations allows greater room for manoeuvre at the domestic level and even more diverse patterns of national usages of Europe, as is shown in the rest of this special issue

The Europeanization of the “Reconciliation Between Paid Work and Private Life” Policies in France: Boasting… but Learning

France has a reputation for havinggenerousfamily policies and was considered to be a pioneer in 'reconciliation'policiesb efore they even came to be known by this term. Although they were created for other purposes (i.e. education and natalism), French policies indirectly favour women's participation in the labour market. One might thus expect that Europe would not have had a significant influence on French policies, even after the emergence of the reconciliation issue on the European agenda. However, despite conditions that would preclude any EU influence on French family policies (a small 'misfit' in the content of the policies, and a reluctance to refer to Europe), we show that family policies have been constantly reformed in France in recent decades in a direction that brings them closer to the EU model. Our approach, which looks at the usage of European resources within the national reform processes, shows how some important actors have seized the opportunities and concepts provided by the EU on reconciliation policies in order to remain central actors at the French level. The introduction of references to Europe has contributed to a reframingof the French debate and policies. Even though natalism is still central to many actors' concerns, the employment rate of women, and to a lesser extent gender equality, have become new driving forces within French family policy

De la régulation politique des mondes de l'Etat Providence à celle des mondes professionnels. Le cas du care et des services domestiques

International audienceThis article analyzes the indirect links between social policies and the political regulation of jobs, taking the case of care and domestic services jobs in France and Germany. It shows that welfare states can create resources and constraints for the political regulation of jobs: while three professional worlds were identifiable in the late 1970s in both countries, debates about care and domestic services were differently developed, leading to the choice of different instruments and to a change in the type of professional worlds associated with the jobs. Welfare states participate to the transformations of professional worlds.Cet article analyse les liens indirects existant entre politiques sociales et régulation politique des métiers, en prenant le cas des métiers du care et des services domestiques en France et en Allemagne. Il montre que ces États providence peuvent créer des ressources et des contraintes pour la régulation politique des métiers : alors que trois mondes professionnels étaient identifiables de part et d’autre du Rhin à la fin des années 1970, les débats sur la dépendance, la garde des enfants et les services de proximité s’y sont déployés autrement. Ils ont conduit au choix d’instruments de politiques publiques différents et à des reconfigurations distinctes des mondes professionnels. Les États providence participent donc aux transformations de ces derniers

L’héritage intellectuel de l’analyse des politiques publiques en France

International audienc

L'État-providence et les mondes professionnels : la construction politique des métiers féminisés d’intervention dans la sphère privée : une comparaison France-République fédérale d’Allemagne depuis les années 1970

Questionner la construction politique des métiers féminisés d’intervention dans la sphère privée présente un intérêt pour qui s’interroge sur l’inégale prise en charge du travail domestique et du travail de care, mais aussi plus généralement sur les relations entre le politique et le privé. L’objet de cette thèse est d’étudier la régulation politique des métiers qui sont occupés dans la sphère privée, à 95% par des femmes. Il s’agit de mettre à jour les processus historiques et politiques ayant conduit, au niveau national, à la construction de régulations collectives concernant ces métiers. Visant à articuler l’analyse des politiques publiques, de l’Etat-providence, de la sociologie de l’emploi et des professions, cette thèse distingue quatre types de processus pouvant affecter les régulations collectives des métiers : ceux de professionnalisation, déprofessionnalisation, précarisation et déprécarisation. Ce cadre théorique est alors utilisé pour étudier les situations de l’Allemagne et de la France, most similar cases, pour lesquels les règles concernant les métiers ont été construites différemment depuis les années 1970. L’enjeu de la thèse est de comprendre comment les politiques sociales ciblées sur la demande de care et de travail domestique ont pu contenir des ressources et des contraintes pour le développement, par les acteurs, de normes concernant les métiers. Nous montrons que les rapports Eglise-Etat, la phase de problématisation, le contenu des instruments de politiques sociales et leur visibilité sont des variables déterminantes permettant de rendre compte du développement de normes pour les métiers.The political construction of gendered care jobs raises questions about the unequal treatment of domestic and care work, but also, more generally about the relationships between public and private spheres. The aim of this thesis is to study the political regulation of care jobs which are almost exclusively (95%) occupied by women. This entails revealing the historical and political processes that have led to the regulation of these occupations at the national level. Drawing from public policy analysis, social welfare studies, and the sociology of work and professions, this thesis distinguishes four processes affecting the collective regulation of these occupations: professionalization, de-professionalization, casualization and decasualization of labour. The theoretical framework is used to compare the situations of Germany and France, two countries for which the rules applied to care jobs have diverged since the 1970s. This dissertation investigates how resources and constraints for the development of norms for the jobs were embedded in social policies targeted to care and domestic work demand. We show that the relations between the state and the church, the stage of problematisation, the content of the instruments of social policy and their visibility are key variables to account for the development of care work regulation

The Politics of Tax Exemptions for Household Services in France

France stands out as the pioneer in Europe in terms of supporting the development of household services through tax policies, and it is also the country that offers the most extensive public support to this sector, both in scope and generosity. Since 1991, households purchasing domestic services can benefit from a 50% tax reduction on the costs incurred, up to a ceiling currently (in 2015) set at €12,000. At the time the scheme was introduced, the policy goals were to provide help to the elderly, to support families with young children in balancing work and family, and to increase employment. In 2005, a major reform known as the Plan Borloo (see Chapter 3) considerably expanded the list of domestic services eligible for the tax reduction. Thus, besides activities to care for the elderly and children, services such as gardening, walking the dog, IT help or delivering groceries have been included in the list of tax-deductible household services. The law also lowered the value added tax (VAT) on private firms providing these new services, and both firms and private employers were exonerated from a large part of their share of social contributions. These different schemes have been promoted and supported by left and right-wing governments alike

Avant-propos au numéro spécial à paraître dans Politique européenne : « Les partenaires sociaux à l’épreuve du genre et de l’intersectionnalité dans l’Union européenne »

Ce numéro de Politique européenne qui s’intéresse aux interactions entre les partenaires sociaux, le genre et l’intersectionnalité dans l’Union européenne a été pensé avant les propos irrationnels et irresponsables tenus par le gouvernement français et des personnalités politiques contre les études post-coloniales et décoloniales et contre les études de genre. Dans une perspective plus large que celle de la France, ces attaques ne sont pas nouvelles. Au sein de l’Union européenne, des États membres comme la Hongrie, la Pologne ou même la Bulgarie s’opposent désormais ouvertement à l’utilisation du mot « genre » dans les conclusions du Conseil européen ou refusent de soutenir des initiatives en faveur de l’égalité entre les femmes et les hommes dans le domaine des relations extérieures ou de la culture. Si ces attaques ne sont pas nouvelles et font déjà l’objet de nombreuses études, comme celles d’Andrea Krizsan et Conny Roggeband, de Mieke Verloo, ou de Roman Kuhar et David Paternotte, elles n’en sont pas moins inquiétantes, gagnant du terrain au-delà des démocraties illibérales, ciblant les libertés académiques, prononçant des anathèmes sur des thématiques de recherche, désignant à la vindicte et menaçant celles et ceux qui s’y consacrent. Dans ce contexte, la publication de ce numéro est particulièrement importante. Il s’agit de réaffirmer la légitimité absolue des travaux portant sur le genre, sur l’intersectionnalité ou sur les discriminations raciales. Les articles qui composent ce numéro permettent de rappeler comment se font les sciences sociales : dans un espace de collaboration et de débat international, dans le cadre de l’évaluation par les pair·es, dans le respect des principes épistémologiques et méthodologiques qui les fondent. Ils permettent également de mettre en évidence ce que l’usage de ces notions apporte à notre connaissance du monde social et à la prise en compte de sa complexité. Du point de vue de Politique européenne, il est essentiel de souligner que la publication de ce numéro s’inscrit dans la mission que la revue s’est donnée, c’est-à-dire de participer à l’animation du débat scientifique autour des études européennes. Il est ainsi le reflet de la richesse d’un champ de recherche qui est partie prenante des travaux sur le processus d’intégration européenne et qui, à ce titre, a toute sa place au sein de la revue depuis de nombreuses années maintenant et plus encore dans les années à venir

Les partenaires sociaux à l'épreuve du genre et de l'intersectionnalité dans l'Union européenne

The aim of this special issue is to carve space for analysis of the nexus of power, gender and other inequalities, and social partners in Europe in times of neoliberalization and transnationalization. The objective is to make research on these issues more visible in EU studies, as well as to beginning to establish a new research field. Despite their crucial role in collective bargaining and significant influence in policy-making in labour-market issues and despite the role played by European Union resources and policy instruments in the advancement of gender issues in EU Member States, there is a lack of analyses of labour market organisations from an equalities perspective comparatively, transnationally and at the European level. Labour market organisations are gendered and racialized institutions, and the formal and informal practices of mobilisations, interests’ representations, bi-and tripartite negotiations are bound to marginalize certain groups of people and certain perspectives. Moreover, their resources, and repertoires of action may be gendered, their position in formulating effective policies to combat inequalities, for example, in relation to equal pay, parental leave, or outsourcing of female-dominated public services, issues which are high on the EU agenda, has evolved in time and should be questioned. Moreover, there is strikingly little research on the shifts in corporatist practices in Europe in the context of austerity, especially in the aftermath of the 2007 crisis, from a gender and intersectionality perspective. For instance, shifts in wage-setting processes, economic and social governance, and political ideologies have influenced trade unions and employer organisations’ respective possibilities and strategies to influence policy making at national and EU levels. The special issue will notably consider the specific place of gender and intersecting inequalities both in the context of the transformation of social dialogue and in the development of new strategies of labour market organisations actions

The Politics of Tax Exemptions for Household Services in France

France stands out as the pioneer in Europe in terms of supporting the development of household services through tax policies, and it is also the country that offers the most extensive public support to this sector, both in scope and generosity. Since 1991, households purchasing domestic services can benefit from a 50% tax reduction on the costs incurred, up to a ceiling currently (in 2015) set at €12,000. At the time the scheme was introduced, the policy goals were to provide help to the elderly, to support families with young children in balancing work and family, and to increase employment. In 2005, a major reform known as the Plan Borloo (see Chapter 3) considerably expanded the list of domestic services eligible for the tax reduction. Thus, besides activities to care for the elderly and children, services such as gardening, walking the dog, IT help or delivering groceries have been included in the list of tax-deductible household services. The law also lowered the value added tax (VAT) on private firms providing these new services, and both firms and private employers were exonerated from a large part of their share of social contributions. These different schemes have been promoted and supported by left and right-wing governments alike