This study examines the strength of the perceived gender equality within the western/northern
economies by studying what effects that the economic crisis and subsequent austerity politics
has had on men compared to women and their respective gender roles, economic power and
participation. It consists of an "outer" quantitative study drawing generalizing conclusions from
the data collected by various IGO and NGOs regarding the economic and democratic
development in countries within the data population. It finds that men and women have been
affected very differently by the crisis and that a the short term effects included a narrowing of
the gender gap can be explained not by a progress of the situation for women but rather a
deterioration for men. The long term effects however was a deterioration in the progress of
gender equality and the situation for women while the same situation for men has started to
recover. The author then conducts an "inner" qualitative comparative case study of Spain and
The United States to examine the links between gender equality, austerity and international
capital. The analysis shows that the crisis to an extent was the workings of a masculinized
culture within the financial institutions and that the subsequent austerity measures have
worsened the impact of the crisis and unevenly so for women, especially on the long term. The
study concludes that there is a link between long term gender equality and if policy making,
especially in times of urgency like crisis, are conducted in a gender smart fashion and that
economies that conduct and sustain gender mainstreaming and gender equality tend to fare
better economically than countries with a more patriarchal and gender blind form of
governance.
2015.