ABSTRACT
Beginning in the early 1990s, gender scholars started to investigate the process of European integration. Since then, they have analysed how women and gender relations shape the European Union (EU) and its policies, as well as how EU gender equality policies affect national gender regimes. This chapter introduces the historical and intellectual background against which gender approaches to EU integration have developed in the last 15 years. It outlines some of the contributions of several key theorists, focusing on those that speak directly to other critical approaches. The chapter then turns to some key criticisms of gender approaches and reflects on potential future developments. For gender scholars, a key concern is how to tackle the ‘fundamental changes to the conceptual, methodological, and normative paradigms' resulting from a need to integrate intersectionality. This coincides with a more complex conceptualisation of men and masculinities and diverse forms of feminities shaping European integration in manifold ways.
