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Constructing a European Culture of Gender Equality on Social Media

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Constructing a European Culture of Gender Equality on Social Media Constructing a European Culture of Gender Equality on Social Media: European and National (mis)Allignments (Wytwarzanie europejskiej kultury równości płci w mediach społecznościowych: Europejskie i krajowe (nie)zgodności) Women Studies Centre Faculty of International and Political Studies University of Łódź Candidate: Mgr. Tommaso Trillò Supervisor: dr hab. Elżbieta Durys, prof. UŁ Łódź, 2019 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 675378. Grazie di tutto il tuo amore Nostra signora Istruzione Murubutu. (2016). La bella creola. L'uomo che viaggiava nel vento e altri racconti di brezze e correnti. Bologna, Italy: Irma Records/Mandibola Records. 2 Abstract In this project, I analyze the narratives of gender equality circulated on the social media platform Twitter by a sample of gender equality institutions, women’s rights activists, LGBTI rights activists, and private users. I drew a theoretical sample of user and a convenience sample of keyword-based discussions (so-called ‘hashtags’). Data was gathered for a year-long timespan (1 September 2016 – 31 August 2017). My aim is to analyze ‘gender equality’ as an object of knowledge constructed in the sampled discourses. The data is sampled across the supranational- national divide, with part of the sample referring to the supranational level of ‘Europe’ and part of the sample referring to a national case study on Italy. The purpose of this selection is to investigate the extent to which discourses of gender equality travel across the supranational-national divide, potentially contributing to the discursive consolidation of ‘gender equality’ as one of the defining elements of ‘Europe’. My theoretical framework takes inspiration from different (de)constructivist approaches across the social sciences. Methodologically, I adopt the framework of Social Media – Critical Discourse Studies. Findings are as follows. Twitter seems to be a space where the potential for political engagement is limited by an unequal distribution of visibility based on material and discursive inequalities. Bottom-up participation on behalf of diverse publics is indeed possible, but it remains small, sporadic, and stratified. I interpret Twitter users as subjects of discourses and practices that take place beyond Twitter as a platform and shape the narratives they are able to voice and their subject position therein. This notwithstanding, they do retain some agency in using the discourses that are available to them for the achievement of their objectives. Gender equality emerges as an object of knowledge in the discursive contestation between their narratives. ‘Women’ tend to be the privileged subject of gender equality discourses. LGBTI people seem to be marginal subjects that mostly make reference to the adjacent discourse of ‘minority rights’, while men remain unaddressed subjects. Gender equality is often defined in ‘neoliberalized’ terms that make it a non-political goal that is instrumental for the achievement of economic growth. This vision is resisted by a more progressive counter-narrative that defines gender equality through a set of value-based arguments for its achievement. In this contexts, ‘Europe’ is constructed as a socio-political space characterized by a commitment to gender equality that is, however, grounded in market-based justifications. By comparison, gender equality seems to be far more politicized at the Italian national level, with a more balanced interplay between neoliberalized and progressive visions of gender equality. 3 Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... 3 List of tables .................................................................................................................................. 11 List of figures ................................................................................................................................ 12 List of abbreviations ..................................................................................................................... 13 Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 15 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 15 Selection of the case studies ..................................................................................................... 15 Defining social media in general and ‘Twitter’ as a social media platform ............................. 17 State of the art on internet uptake and social media penetration in Europe and Italy ............... 19 Overview of the key theoretical perspectives adopted ............................................................. 20 Gender and gender equality .................................................................................................. 20 Europe ................................................................................................................................... 21 Social media .......................................................................................................................... 22 Overview of key methodological concerns............................................................................... 23 Methodology ......................................................................................................................... 23 Methods................................................................................................................................. 24 The sample ............................................................................................................................ 24 Objectives ................................................................................................................................. 25 Summary of findings................................................................................................................. 25 Dissertation plan ....................................................................................................................... 26 PART I .......................................................................................................................................... 28 1. A brief history of gender equality policy in Europe and in Italy ......................................... 29 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 29 Gender equality in the European Union since the Treaty of Rome .......................................... 29 4 Gender equality in Italy since the 1946 Referendum ................................................................ 37 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 44 2. Theory ................................................................................................................................... 47 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 47 Constructing ‘Europe’ ............................................................................................................... 48 Europe in international relations: A quick overview ............................................................ 48 Constructivism: A late-comer to the study of Europe .......................................................... 50 Diez’s brand of postmodern constructivism ......................................................................... 52 Section summary ................................................................................................................... 54 Feminist political analysis: Some key tenets ............................................................................ 55 Feminist political analysis..................................................................................................... 56 ‘Doing gender’ and gender performativity ........................................................................... 60 Feminist solutions to the problem of ‘gender equality’ ........................................................ 63 Feminism as a progressive political project and its neoliberal adversaries .......................... 65 Section summary ................................................................................................................... 68 Social media as a space of political performativity .................................................................. 68 Public figures and institutional performances of the self...................................................... 68 Performing assemblies: Institutional brokerage, collective performativity, affect ............... 71 Section summary ................................................................................................................... 78 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 78 3. Methodology ......................................................................................................................... 81 Introduction ..............................................................................................................................
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