Poststructuralism, Discourse and Problematization: Implications for gender mainstreaming

Abstract

This article introduces a methodology, called "what‟s the problem represented to be?‟ (WPR approach), that facilitates a form of poststructural policy analysis, and applies it to gender analysis procedures in Ireland and the Netherlands. In this methodology policies are understood as discursive practices, imposing specific shapes (called problem representations) on the "problems‟ they purport to "address‟. A WPR approach to policy analysis involves identifying the underlying conceptual logics in these problem representations and evaluating them in terms of their implications or effects. It also alerts those involved in designing and implementing gender mainstreaming programs to their location within dominant conceptual frameworks and the subsequent need for a form of reflexive policy practice.