The promises of a Feminist Green New Deal: Implementing ecofeminist approaches into the European Green Deal with a focus on Austria – A Q-Methodology Study

The European Green Deal (EGD) is a policy framework to support a just transition towards a sustainable future by uniting all 27 member states and becoming the world’s first climate neutral continent by 2050. However, the EGD fails to grasp the gendered dimension of climate change and environmental challenges, which results in increased gender and social injustice. This paper puts particular emphasis on Austria, a member state of the EU, investigating its unique needs, concerns, progresses, and challenges to implement feminist perspectives into policy making and exploring a potential Feminist Green New Deal (FGND). A Q-Methodology approach was adopted to reveal and capture diverse viewpoints about envisioning a FGND for the EU and Austria. 11 professionals across Austria with an economic, environmental, academic, or political background were interviewed. Statements used for the Q-sort were informed by the literature review. It includes topics such as inclusive representation, masculine and feminine solutions, toxins, energy transition, and intersectionality. This research method enabled results to reflect the depth of diverse beliefs and underlying reasons surrounding political decision making. Furthermore, this study displays the importance to move away from the current GDP-growth obsession and move towards well-being by finding alternatives to measure how good a society is doing. Additionally, intersectional discrimination and androcentric norms must be challenged in a potential FGND. This paper concludes by proposing distinctive strategies to implement ecofeminist perspectives into policy making such as inclusive representation, combining different policy areas, and gender mainstreaming. Simultaneously, it acknowledges that the main obstacle of creating a FGND is the real political situation in both Austria and the EU