The Influence of International Organizations

Abstract

This section briefly examines the influence on family policy of international organizations, such as the World Bank and the EU, and argues that in practice they had very little influence on policymaking. It also takes up the Catholic Church in Poland. One could argue that the Polish Catholic Church is not really “international,” since the Catholic authorities in Poland do not necessarily advocate the same policies as Church officials in other countries. But even if differences arise in choices of what issues to emphasize, the Polish Catholic Church rarely goes against the official doctrines developed by the Vatican. This chapter argues that international organizations do not have much influence on family policy, but the EU has had influence on the discourse on gender, which has made feminism more acceptable in the public discourse. This in turn increases the future chances for women’s organizations to gain some influence over policymaking.