ABSTRACT
Gender inequality is widespread in human history. At the same time, however, women and men in different social circumstances, in different places, show an immense divergence in their experiences and in their relations to one another. How inequality takes place, to what degree, in what areas of life, and with what effects – all can differ substantially in different places. Similarly, both women and men possess different opportunities in different places for altering, or coping with, their position and experiences. Even among the relatively small group of Western European countries, just looking at the present and recent past, there are substantial differences in gender inequalities and gender relations. Men and women, in different European countries, lead different lives and possess different expectations of what their lives should be – even though all live within gender inequality. Nor is this difference just a matter of cross-national differences alone: there are also significant variations at the levels of different regions, local labour markets and neighbourhoods – both across and within countries.
