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Beyond the Policy Rhetoric: The Limitations of Gender Mainstreaming in South Korea Relating to Women and Childcare

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 December 2019

Sung-Hee Lee
Sung-Hee Lee*
Affiliation:
School of Law and Social Sciences, University of Derby, E-mail: s.lee@derby.ac.uk
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Abstract

This article examines the limitations of the gender mainstreaming discourse regarding the issue of childcare by women in South Korea, an area of responsibility that was transferred from the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MHW) to the Ministry of Gender Equality (MGE)1 in 2003. Through employing a discursive institutionalism approach, this article articulates that whilst the gender mainstreaming discourse has been interpreted at the surface level of politics, it has been formulated differently behind the scenes due to various policy interests. I argue that the discourse has remained at the level of superficial political rhetoric with underdeveloped understanding about the relationship between childcare and gender, thus retaining a stereotypical view of women as caregivers.

Keywords

Gender mainstreamingSouth Koreadiscursive institutionalismgender politicsMinistry of Gender Equality
Type
Articles
Information
Social Policy and Society , Volume 19 , Issue 3 , July 2020 , pp. 379 - 395
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2019

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