ABSTRACT
WOMEN AS LEGAL EXPERTS AND POLICY ACTIVISTS HAVE PLAYED A CENTRAL ROLE IN the evolution of supranational social policy in Europe. The purpose of this chapter is to examine the mechanisms that affect women’s involvement in European integration and international policy processes more generally. This analysis draws upon research from integration scholars, public policy experts, and feminist theory, and introduces a policy dynamic that explains activism and participation in terms of policy designs and issue constructions. In particular, I examine the evolution of sex equality policy in the European Union (EU)1 through a case study of the Equal Pay Principle (Article 141).2 I focus on the role of women activists in creating and shaping the scope of this European policy sector. This analysis adopts an interdisciplinary approach to examine how sex equality became an integral part of what was intended to be an international economic agreement. The research demonstrates the significant effect that national and transnational women’s activism can have on international policy outcomes. A systematic study of this dynamic remains absent from our current understanding of global politics.
