On Collision Course: The European Central Bank, Monetary Policy, and the Nordic Welfare Model

The question addressed in this paper is whether a particular discursive construction of globalization sets the boundaries for what is politically feasible within the EU. To answer this question, the macroeconomic policies of the European Monetary and Economic Union with its rigid emphasis on price stability are analysed in the context of the Nordic promise to preserve the present level of social programmes. What makes this 'puzzle' so interesting is that for the first time a large section of women voters hold the key to joining EMU. The analysis differs frommanyother feminist approaches to EMUand equal opportunity policy in that it combines a constructivist understanding of EMU with feminist political economy. The paper concludes that the Nordic promise to its female constituency to safeguard the present socialandemployment system cannot be sustained within the context of the restrictive monetary regime institutionalized by EMU. Feminist economists are calling for a 'transformative' approach to macroeconomics arguing that democratizing the process of macroeconomic policy making is a crucial element in changing the fundamental assumptions of the present neo-liberal policies and provides an alternative that would lead to a more gender-democratic Europe.