Reform "from above"? The Development of State Women's Policy in the Federal Republic of Germany in the 1960s and 1970s
Final Report Abstract
Why did the living conditions of women increasingly become an prominent subject of discussion among state institutions in the Federal Republic of Germany during the 1960s and 1970s? Taking this as its guiding question, this project examined women's policy initiatives, negotiation processes and concrete measures at the federal level and in the regional case study of Hamburg. The aim was to analyse the establishment of women's policy as an independent policy area from a historical perspective. Several interconnected factors significantly shaped women's policy, particularly the continuously increasing employment of women since the 1960s and the associated social changes. Addressed labour and social law issues as well as family policy issues related to the living situation of women were increasingly discussed by politicians of all parties. Gainful employment as an increasingly integral part of women's lives blurred, at least to some extent, the gender role attributions of the ‘public-male’ and ‘private-female’ spheres, some of which still exist today. In addition, the sustained politicisation of women's lives since the 1970s contributed to this slow change, which was mainly shaped by the issues raised and activities of the new women's movement (Neue Frauenbewegung). Promoted by the socio-cultural upheavals of this period, including the rising level of education among the female population and a growing need for self-determination, women's politics emerged as a new, independent field of politics. The pluralisation of stakeholders was also crucial: since the 1960s, the effects of networks of female politicians, civil servants and traditional women's organisations operating outside parliament have intensified. The necessary structural changes for this were evident at both the federal and state levels: parliamentary committees, government bodies, and established political parties addressed demands for the realization of gender equality more emphatically from the 1960s onwards. With the establishment of equal opportunities offices at the end of the 1970s, new and significant structures were created for women's policy, These reforms also show how women's policy was embedded in a transnational context: the establishment of institutional structures and legislative reforms and decisions, including the new marriage and family law in 1976/77, took place at the same time as similar developments in Western European countries and the United States. However, the federal and state governments' women's policy agenda was also characterised by a clear determination to question the socially dominant gender role attributions as little as possible. Women's policy approaches in West Germany were characterised by gender-political pluralisation rather than radical upheaval. By the end of the 1970s, women's policy had established itself as a policy field. However, almost all approaches and actors were consistently confronted with stubborn resistance to lasting change in the traditional, binary gender order.
Publications
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Unbeachtet und unterschätzt? Zur Entwicklung staatlicher Frauenpolitik in der Bundesrepublik der 1960er und 1970er Jahre, in: Zeitgeschichte in Hamburg (2023), S. 165-180
Rentschler, Hannah
