The Policy of Inactivity: Doing Gender-Blind Science Policy in the Czech Republic 2005–2010
The Policy of Inactivity: Doing Gender-Blind Science Policy in the Czech Republic 2005–2010

Summary/Abstract: The paper examines the non/acceptance of gender equality as a legitimate topic of science policy in the Czech Republic between 2005 and 2010. Despite much criticism from experts and researchers which shows there are major gender-related problems, responsible state officials and institutions remained resistant to the issue. This policy of inactivity is studied from the perspective of constructivist policy analysis. The aim of the paper is to show how the discursive practices of treating and understandings the issue of gender equality constitute gender equality as something that is unproblematic and/or located on the periphery of or even outside science itself. In this way, gender equality is pushed outside the realm of science policy, and the status quo remains untouched and unproblematised. If gender equality is thematised at all, it is reduced to the issue of women in science. Such an understanding of gender equality significantly narrows the space in which concrete political measures can be adopted, while also determining which activities are acceptable and which are not, and who is responsible for the situation and its solution.

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