The Visibility (and Invisibility) of Women and Gender in Parliamentary Discourse During the Portuguese Economic Crisis (2008–2014)

Abstract

In Portugal, the economic crisis and austerity policies have significantly impacted the lives of both men and women, but research has shown that austerity driven measures adopted to alleviate the crisis have had disproportionally adverse consequences for women. This study investigates seven years of parliamentary debates on the economic crisis and austerity policies by combining Critical Discourse Analysis and framing analysis. Findings show that ‘women and gender’ as issues were neglected during the first four years of parliamentary discourse, but became a separate and relevant social category after 2012. The reality of the economic crisis created by MPs was narrowly constructed and based mostly on the discursive hegemony of economic impacts and economic victimization. While women had some discursive representation, they lacked substantive representation.