This book investigates how the concept of gender equality is interpreted, contested, and transformed within the framework of European policy-making. Emanuela Lombardo, alongside contributors Petra Meier and Mieke Verloo, utilizes a discursive institutionalist approach to analyze how policy actors manipulate the meaning of gender equality to fit existing political agendas. The work examines the tension between transformative equality goals and the pragmatic constraints of institutional environments, arguing that the 'stretching' and 'bending' of these concepts often dilute their original intent.

Experts in political science and gender studies identify this as a critical text for understanding the gap between policy rhetoric and actual institutional change. Scholars frequently note the academic density of the prose and its utility as a foundational resource for students of public policy and feminist theory.