'It's just a text - who cares?' Construction of Texts in the Context of EU Policies

This chapter illustrates - with two examples - the procedures applied for the formulation of politically negotiated texts that guided international policies in the field of women, gender, and development. The challenges in the preparation and negotiation process that ultimately led to a formal position of the European Union are described from the perspective of a gender adviser to a member state's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The chapter also articulates the individual experience of the switch from a rather self-determined academic task toward the accommodation of the rules of bureaucratic environments. Finally, some critical questions about the impact of such policy texts are raised.