Questioning Financial Governance from a Feminist Perspective

Brigitte Young is Professor of Political Science at the University of Münster, Germany.Isabella Bakker is Professor of Political Science and Women’s Studies at York University, Toronto, Canada. Diane Elson is Professor of Sociology at the University of Essex, UK.

• Introduction Brigitte Young, Isabella Bakker and Diane Elson 1. Macroeconomics and Gender Orders in OECD Countries Friederike Maier 2. Changing Macroeconomic Governance and Gender Orders: The Case of Canada Isa Bakker 3. EU Macroeconomic Governance and Gender Orders: The Case of Austria Elizabeth Klatzer and Christa Schlager 4. Taxation, Employment and Gender: The Case of State Taxes in the USA Elissa Braunstein and Caren Grown 5. Central Banks, Employment and Gender in Developing Countries Elissa Braunstein and James Heintz 6. IMF Policies and Gender Orders: The Case of the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility Diane Elson and Tonia Warnecke 7. The Role of Gender in Governance of the Financial Sector Helene Schuberth and Brigitte Young 8. Macroeconomic Governance, Gendered Inequality, and Global Crises Stephen Gill and Adrienne Roberts

"For those who seek concrete case studies and empirics on the effects of financial governance on gender inequality, this important book amply fills that niche. Engaging and accessible, the authors present rigorous and novel analyses on how financially-related policies, ranging from taxation to monetary and fiscal policy to credit allocation, serve to reinforce unequal gender relations. For policy makers, the book serves as a useful jumping off point for the development of policies that can promote broadly shared, gender-equitable well-being. This timely collection of essays succeeds in capturing notable gender effects of financialization in evidence in both developed and developing economies".- Stephanie Seguino, Professor of Economics, University of Vermont, USA and President of International Association for Feminist Economics."This volume provides a unique contribution to the academic and policy debates around the financial crisis. It develops sound economic explanations in empirically-based analyses of how neoliberal financial policies disadvantage women. The volume convincingly shows the gender biases inherent in, for example, contractionary inflation targeting, and individualising risk combined with bank bail-outs, corporate tax competition, and underinvestment in (women's) food production. The volume demonstrates how important a feminist perspective is for raising effectiveness as well as equity of financial policies".- Irene van Staveren, Professor of Pluralist Development Economics, ISS, The Hague."This book provides a much-needed intervention that successfully interrupts, interrogates and deconstructs the omission of gender in financial governance. Bringing together some of the best scholarship in feminist political economy and feminist economics, this rich and innovative collection allows us to understand the impact of the strategic silence with regard to gender inequality before and after the Great Crash of 2008". - Susanne Soederberg, Professor and Canada Research Chair, Department of Global Development Studies & Political Studies, Queen’s University, Canada