| Abstract [eng] |
This master’s thesis examines of eco-social policies within the European Union (EU) and Lithuania by gender sensitive approach. While the green transition aims to foster a sustainable, low-carbon economy through profound structural shifts, the process is frequently evaluated solely through narrow technocratic or economic lenses. This study posits that gender blindness in the policy-making process risks yielding socially regressive outcomes that exacerbate existing systemic inequalities. The primary objective is to critically assess the gender sensitivity of both EU and national eco-social policies. Drawing on eco-feminist and intersectional perspectives, the theoretical framework identifies four key eco-social policy areas: energy transition, sustainable mobility, sustainable housing and the green labor market. Within these areas, the study defines social impact mechanisms as either compensatory or transformative as well as categorizes the directions of policy impact on gender as progressive, neutral or regressive. A mixed-methods approach was adopted for this research. The quantitative component utilizes descriptive statistics, Spearman correlation and hierarchical cluster analysis to group EU-27 member states based on their performance across 11 eco-social indicators in 3 policy areas (noting that energy transition indicators did not meet the criteria for quantitative analysis). The qualitative component provides a comprehensive content analysis of 36 measures from Lithuania’s National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP), evaluating their implementation mechanisms and gendered impacts. The quantitative findings reveal systemic gender inequality across the EU. While men dominate the green labor market, women remain more dependent on public transport and bear a disproportionate burden regarding energy poverty and housing costs. The cluster analysis further demonstrates that the achievement of eco-social justice is heavily contingent upon the prevailing welfare state model. The qualitative analysis of Lithuania's NECP indicates that although most measures are nominally transformative, they prioritize technological shifts over social transformation. The plan was formulated under an assumption of "gender neutrality". Given that 33 out of the 36 measures analyzed have a distinct gendered impact - with 12 being regressive for women and only 3 for men, the study concludes that these measures are in fact gender-blind. |
