Beware of Policies Bearing Gifts: How Policies Enable Sanitized Intersectionality, Exclusive Inclusion, and Divertising

Abstract

The requirement for Gender Equality Plans as a condition for Horizon Europe funding marks a significant institutional recognition of structural gender inequalities—not only within individual universities but across the broader higher education and research systems. Yet, this recognition comes at a cost. This paper critically examines how the institutionalization of intersectionality, diversity, and inclusion—framed as a triad by the Horizon Europe programme—facilitates their assimilation into procedural, compliance-driven practices that risk depoliticizing feminist and anti-oppression struggles. Adopting a problem-seeking approach informed by Carol Bacchi’s (2009) “What’s the problem represented to be?” framework, the analysis is guided by three central questions: (1) How is the triad (intersectionality, inclusion, diversity) represented? (2) What is left unproblematic in this representation? (3) What effects are (or could be) produced by this representation? The critical analysis of HE Guidance suggests that the hyper-visible commitment to the triad renders less/invisible how this triad is being (ab)used, limiting its potentiality. This includes the enactment of sanitized forms of intersectionality, a notion of inclusion that can be exclusionary, and a notion of diversity that primarily serves institutional branding. Simultaneously, there are ways in which GEPs might be used to combat gender inequalities, even if with limitations.