Neoliberalism and gender analysis mainstreaming in Aotearoa/New Zealand

In this article, I explore the impact of neoliberalism on the gender analysis mainstreaming initiative launched in 1996 by the Ministry of Women's Affairs in the government of Aotearoa/New Zealand. I argue that elements of neoliberal discourse worked against the feminist potential of The Full Picture, the instructional document that was developed by the Ministry to assist policy analysts across government in learning how to use gender analysis in all phases of their work. I also review various strategies for fostering the systematic implementation of gender analysis mainstreaming that have been pursued and argue that none of these has yet proven effective, including proposals to encourage the practice of gender analysis by incorporating measures of its use into the performance management framework established through neoliberal reforms to the public service.