From municipal feminism to the Equality Act – Legislation and gender equality work in UK local government 1980-2010

Abstract

For decades local government has been an important site for the development of gender equality practice, and the implementation of legislation attempting to address inequality in the UK. The rise of ‘municipal feminism’ during the 1980s marked a particular instantiation of gender equality work. Yet at the time the relationship between this phenomena and legislation was not given significant attention. The Equality Acts of 2006 and 2010 have been key milestones for local government gender equality work subsequently, yet little work has considered the detail of their implementation at the ground level by council employees. This article contributes to addressing this gap by examining the influence of legislation on local government gender equality practice at this level, and how this has changed over three decades. It draws on findings from a comparative historical study of three sites within the UK.