Description
During the Eurozone crisis, the governing council of the European Central Bank (ECB) was extremely men-dominated; with the representation of women between 2012 and 2014 reaching 0%. At the same time, the austerity and conditionality chosen as the ‘remedy’ for the Eurozone crisis was harmful to all genders, but in particular to women and LGBTIQ people. This paper asks – does masculinity have anything to do with this? Does masculinity matter in the governance approach of the ECB, and how? The paper examines the performative politics of the ECB presidents Jean-Claude Trichet and Mario Draghi, as well as disagreements within the governing council of the ECB during the pivotal period of 2007-2012. It argues that performances of disciplinary masculinity and transnational business masculinity played an important role in conflicts over and the legitimisation of austerity and conditionality. Therefore, cultural gender politics might be a more constitutive dimension in political economy than is typically assumed.
