The circulation, use and conceptualization of European sex equality norms : a comparative analysis

Abstract

Gender inequality is certainly a familiar social problem. One of its most tangible manifestations is the situation of women on the labour market This situation is characterised by the pervasiveness and persistence of the horizontally and vertically segregated nature of ‘women’s work’, the gendered construction of skill which is intrinsically linked to lower pay for women, and the predominance of women in so-called ‘atypical’ or marginal employment forms. Indeed, increasing investigation into the situation of women, ethnic minorities and other disadvantaged groups, such as older workers, on the labour market has led to an important change of focus in the study of industrial relations and labour law In the first place, alongside the traditional focus on the subordination of the worker within the contract of employment and the need for workers to band collectively to counterbalance the vertical inequality of the relationship between employer and employee, has come an insistence that horizontal inequalities - that is inequalities within and between workers - constitute a challenge of similar magnitude for labour regulation Hence it is argued that efforts must be made to fashion regulatory techniques and structures which will address both types of inequality.