Abstract
This paper aims to present, share, and discuss the research design and methodological approach of a newly funded research project that explores the intersection of gender and ethnicity vis-à-vis socioeconomic participation in two sub-state units that share similar autonomous settings and societal challenges, i.e., South Tyrol and Catalonia. The overall goal of the project is to provide innovative solutions for enhancing the access to employment, education, and social and public services of women and LGBTIQ+ individuals in a post-pandemic scenario.
Covid-19, besides taking a huge toll on human lives, has also caused the loss of millions of full-time jobs and has significantly exacerbated existing social inequalities as well as triggered new ones. As widely evidenced, women, LGBTIAQ+ individuals and ethnic minorities are among the hardest-hit sectors of society. In particular, the adverse and asymmetric effects on women have proven true also in sub-state units that had a healthy pre-pandemic economy, such as South Tyrol. This indicates that there may be less correlation between gender and class than what would be expected vis-à-vis the socioeconomic hurdles caused by the pandemic.
This project adopts an interdisciplinary socio-legal approach and a qualitative methodology. More specifically, by applying and building upon the legal theory of intersectionality, it bridges the social sciences (interpretative) qualitative approach that collects and analyzes individual perceptions with the legal qualitative methodology that analyses the real-world level of application and impact of legal instruments (e.g., policies) upon specific sectors of the society.