Dutch Decay: the Dismantling of the Women’s Policy Network in the Netherlands

Abstract

In comparative research on women’s movements and women’s policy agencies, the Netherlands gained the reputation of having a rather successful movement and an effective women’s policy agency willing to advance movement goals and enhance access of women into decision-making arenas (McBride Stetson and Mazur, 1995; McBride Stetson, 2001a; Outshoorn, 2004a; Lovenduski et al., 2005; Hausmann and Sauer, 2007). Over the years the agency employed many women who had strong ties with various branches of the movement, making for an open attitude towards feminist demands, which were often directly incorporated into its policy papers. Although relations between women’s movement groups and the agency were never free from tension, numerous women’s initiatives and institutions were funded generously by the agency, ranging from the indispensable International Institute and Archives of the Women’s Movement (IIAV) to organizations against sexual violence, feminist publishing and film ventures and small-scale cultural projects (IPM, 1986).