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Due to their soft and brittle nature, the mechanical characterization of polymer hydrogels is a difficult task employing traditional testing equipment. Here, we endowed poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) (PNIPAAm) hydrogel networks with Diels–Alder adducts of π-extended anthracenes as mechanofluorophore crosslinkers. After swelling the networks with varying amounts of water and subjecting them to force, we visualized the subsequent fluorescence caused by covalent bond scission with confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) and related the intensities to the macroscopic fracture mechanics and the elastic moduli recorded with traditional uniaxial compression. The sensitivity of the mechanofluorophores allowed the analysis of low levels of mechanical stress produced via a hand-induced needle-puncturing process and, thus, is an alternative to conventional force application methods. The detection and precise localization of covalent bond scission via CLSM helps elucidating the interrelationship between molecular structure and the macroscopic properties of chemically crosslinked polymeric hydrogels. We believe that this micro-scale mechanophore-assisted fractography can establish a new paradigm for the mechanical analysis of soft matter in fields covering traditional polymer and life sciences.

Twenty Years of EU Gender Mainstreaming: Rebirth out of the Ashes? The article looks at the progressive development of gender mainstreaming as a strategy to achieve gender equality in the EU and the role played by policy makers to implement and/or instrumentalise this new concept. From the outset, bureaucracies seized it as an opportunity to dilute the focus on gender and cut resources, transforming its development into a permanent power struggle. The article starts with a brief overview of the major steps and research findings on GM during its launch in the early 1990s and discusses problems arising from related concepts. It then assesses the backlash directed against gender equality, and the demotion of gender mainstreaming, precipitated by the 2004 Eastern enlargement, and the sovereign-debt turned Euro-crisis after 2008. The article concludes by highlighting issues that suggest gender mainstreaming remains the only effective strategy for tackling gender inequalities in the EU, as long as it is understood and implemented in the “policy transformative way”. The article is based on the authors’ insider view stemming from extensive experience in gender equality policies at the European and national level. (author's abstract), Der Beitrag befasst sich mit der fortlaufenden Entwicklung von Gender Mainstreaming als gleichstellungspolitischer Strategie der EU und der Rolle die dabei politische Entscheidungsträger*innen haben, dieses neue Konzept zu implementieren und/oder zu instrumentalisieren. Von Beginn an wurde Gender Mainstreaming genutzt um den vorherigen Fokus auf Geschlecht auszudünnen und Ressourcen zu streichen, während zeitgleich die Entwicklung von GM sich in einem permanenten Machtkampf transformierte. Der Artikel fasst eingangs die zentralen Schritte und Forschungsergebnisse zur Einführung von Gender Mainstreaming in den frühen 1990er-Jahren zusammen und diskutiert entstehende Probleme durch verwandte Konzepte. Dann wird die Gegenreaktion zur EU Gleichstellungspolitik und die Herabstufung von Gender Mainstreaming bewertet, die sich im Zuge der 2004er Osterweiterung und der Finanz- und Staatsschuldenkrise seit 2008 entwickelte. Abschließend wird erläutert, warum Gender Mainstreaming dennoch die einzig effektive Strategie zum Abbau geschlechtsspezifischer Ungleichheiten in der EU bleibt – jedenfalls so lange die Strategie in ihrem ursprünglichen „transformativen Ideal“ verstanden und umgesetzt wird. Der Artikel basiert auf den Innenansichten der beiden Autorinnen als langjährige Gleichstellungsexpertinnen auf EU und nationaler Ebene. (Autorenreferat)

This article examines the development of a gender mainstreaming strategy in the EU by illustrating how this strategy was shaped by other than gender equality policy goals. Gender mainstreaming was originally launched in 1996 to promote gender equality in all EU policies, in the context of international and European mobilization on women's issues. It was aimed to transform mainstream policies by introducing a gender equality perspective. However, it has been largely used as an alibi for neutralizing positive action. The successful implementation of positive action in political decision-making had challenged the gender distribution of political power over policy institutions and technical, human and financial resources. This led to policy softening and institutional weakening due to counteracting by the EU political and administrative hierarchies. The argument is based on text analyses of relevant Community acts and on direct observations of the policy process, based on personal working experiences in the European Commission