1 Beyond the „worlds of compliance‟: a sociological and discursive approach to the Europeanisation of gender equality policies

Primer borrador de introducción para el libro The Europeanization of gender equality policies. A discursive-sociological approach (de próxima publicación en Palgrave) Agradecemos sugerencias y comentarios, por favor pedirnos permiso antes de citar el borrador This introductory chapter aims at contributing to the debate on Europeanization and the comparative analysis of public policies from a gender perspective by developing a discursive and sociological approach to the issue. It reviews existing literature on Europeanization, clarifies its understanding of concepts, poses the main research questions to explore, and presents the theoretical and methodological approach to the study of Europeanization privileged in the book. After reviewing recent developments in the literature on European integration and domestic policy change in Europe, the chapter discusses theoretical and methodological aspects of the discursive politics approach suggested for the analysis of the Europeanization of gender and other inequality policies. By articulating a sociological and discursive approach to Europeanization, the chapter puts forward a more comprehensive approach for the analysis of the “external ” variable in the making of gender equality policies in Europe, thus contributing to the overall debate on the Europeanization of public policies. The conclusions outline the research agenda of the book and the different contributions