Gendered structures in action: 'male' versus 'female' agendas in a family rights project

This article describes the formation of a family rights project in Limerick. It explains how the project came to focus on a rather narrow legalistic definition of parental rights, typified as a 'male agenda'. It explores the implications of this agenda for the attraction of parents to the project. Finally and more broadly, it raises questions about the relevance of partnership activities between statutory and community agencies, given the gendered nature of organisations (Acker, 1990) and the likely dominance of what is referred to as the 'male agenda'. The paper draws on documentary material concerning the establishment of the group, together with group evaluation material and qualitative data from individual semi-structured interviews with all the members of what came to be referred to as the Core Group in the family rights project