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Changing Gender: The Discursive Construction of Equal Opportunities
Author(s) -
Nentwich Julia C.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
gender, work and organization
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.159
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1468-0432
pISSN - 0968-6673
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-0432.2006.00320.x
Subject(s) - ideology , perspective (graphical) , dilemma , sociology , construct (python library) , context (archaeology) , gender studies , meaning (existential) , legislation , repertoire , epistemology , social psychology , political science , politics , psychology , law , paleontology , philosophy , physics , artificial intelligence , computer science , acoustics , biology , programming language
This article provides a discursive perspective on the dilemmas of sameness and difference feminisms and their consequences for change projects. It explores how equal opportunity officers dealing with gender issues and introducing equality legislation in practice construct the meaning of equal opportunities. The analysis of the interpretative repertoires and ideological dilemmas drawn upon in ten interviews shows the highly context‐specific use of four different repertoires constructing gender equality: the sameness, difference, bandwidth and deconstructive repertoire. Interpreting the shifts between repertoires from the perspective of the ideological dilemma, new avenues for change are explored. The article concludes that the simultaneous use of all possible theoretical perspectives might be a worthwhile objective.