Gender-Sensitive Public Policy on Community Economic Development (CÉD) in Québec: an Oxymoron?

Denyse Côté (1, 2)

1 Département de travail social
2 UQO - Université du Québec en Outaouais

This paper examines a debate that occurred in the province of Québec between1996 and 2003 around the implementation of public policies regarding community economic development (known as social economy in francophone areas) and their ability to respond to and take into account women’s unpaid domestic and community work. Although the demands of the women’s movement were finally set aside by government, the genesis of this debate remains interesting in that it mobilized local and regional authorities as well as women’s groups for over 5 years. It was important as an enactment, though short lived, of a radical feminist agenda in a neo-liberal environment. This paper will present the results of an extended case-study on this experience that covered nearly half of Québec’s territory; data was obtained through direct observation, archives, open-ended interviews of key-informants and focusgroups of social entrepreneurs and employees of CED projects. Empirical as well as theoretical results of this research will be presented.

Mots clés: economic development; Gender; Public policy

Domaines: Etudes sur le genre; Science politique

Denyse Côté. Gender-Sensitive Public Policy on Community Economic Development (CÉD) in Québec: an Oxymoron?. 104th American Sociological Society Meeting: "The New Politics of Community", Aug 2009, San Franciso, CA, United States. ⟨hal-01542547⟩