Gill Allwood

Research areas

Professor Allwood's research interests centre on gender and politics and have developed from the detailed analysis of French feminist theory and activism, which was the subject of her thesis and first book French Feminisms: Gender and Violence in Contemporary Theory (UCL 1998), to broader investigations of gender and politics in France, in the UK, and in the European Union.

A major project focused on gender and politics in France and led to the publication of three books, co-authored with Dr. Khursheed Wadia, University of Warwick. The first, Women and Politics in France 1958-2000 (Routledge 2000), was a detailed analysis of women's participation in mainstream institutional politics and alternative forms of political activism, with chapters on electoral participation and voting behaviour, trade unions and political parties, ecological and feminist movements, and republicanism and citizenship. The second, Gender and Policy in France (Palgrave 2009) analysed policy debates in the areas of employment, parity, abortion, violence, prostitution and the Islamic headscarf, in a contribution to our understanding of gender politics in France and to the emerging feminist policy studies. The third, Refugee Women in Britain and France (MUP 2010) focused on the participation in mainstream institutional politics and civil society organisations of a specific group of women who, it demonstrated, may be highly motivated to participate, but experience particular obstacles, many of which are inherent in refugee reception and status determination procedures.

Professor Allwood is currently working on gender and European policy. This examines the relation between gender mainstreaming and a range of EU policy areas, including migration, international development and climate change. It contributes to an understanding of gender mainstreaming as a form of horizontal policy coordination, and has led to a number of conference papers, journal articles and special issues. A new area of research which has emerged from this concerns the 'Tricky Issues'. These are the questions that that EU has not engaged with, and include abortion, prostitution and same-sex marriage. Professor Allwood is coordinating an international research network to explore these issues.

Opportunities to carry out postgraduate research towards an MPhil/PhD exist and Professor Allwood welcomes applications from students in any area of gender and contemporary politics and society. Further information may be obtained from the NTU Graduate School.