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Maria Jansson

Maria Jansson Position: Professor School/office: School of Social Sciences and Media Studies

Email: bWFyaWEuamFuc3NvbjtvcnUuc2U=

Phone: No number available

Room: F3251

Maria Jansson
Research subject Research environments

About Maria Jansson

I am an Associate Professor of Political Science and a Professor of Gender Studies. My research focuses on equality and inequality, and on how politics, media, and culture contribute to shaping and transforming the conditions of different groups in society, as well as how women and other groups work to bring about change. Further, I have a longstanding interest in issues related to equality and learning.

I am currently working on a project on democracy education for upper secondary school students, funded by the Swedish Institute for Educational Research. The project builds on an earlier research project funded by the Swedish Research Council (VR) in which I collaborated with researchers from Stockholm University and Mälardalen University to examine how teaching about trust helps upper secondary students develop their understanding of democracy. My role in the project includes investigating how different groups of students (women, men, and groups with varying ethnic backgrounds) reason about trust and how their experiences and conditions outside of school influence learning.

I recently completed the Digiscreens project on identity and democracy on digital film and television platforms in Europe. The project examined digital distribution, how it affects content and presentation on streaming platforms, and how audiences negotiate and interpret fictional content in relation to democratic values. The project was funded through the ERA-NET CHANSE initiative, with Forte serving as the Swedish funding agency. It was a collaboration among research teams in Lithuania, Norway, Spain, and Sweden.

In another recently completed project, funded by the Riksbankens Jubileumsfond (RJ) and titled Women in Swedish Film, I worked with colleagues in Film Studies and Law to investigate how Swedish film policy, including efforts to make the film industry more gender-equal, affects the working conditions of women in the industry and how women themselves have worked to improve those conditions.

Earlier in my career, I studied how motherhood and work are constructed within the Swedish political context and how these constructions affect women’s lives and opportunities. I have also examined how international organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF have established norms around breastfeeding and how these norms influence women’s lives. In addition, I have researched the United Nations Security Council and the ways it constructs gender and gender relations within its resolutions on Women, Peace, and Security (beginning with Resolution 1325), as well as within resolutions related to the international response to HIV/AIDS.

For many years, I have also been deeply interested in higher education pedagogy and have participated in several research projects exploring how university students learn concepts such as gender, state, and nation. I have studied how different teaching methods influence student learning and have developed approaches for using so-called memory work as a pedagogical tool. In 2026, I was recognized as a Distinguished Teacher.

I teach Gender Studies courses at all levels, from introductory to advanced graduate study, and I also teach in the Master’s Program in Social Analysis.

Publications

Articles in journals |  Articles, book reviews |  Articles, reviews/surveys |  Books |  Chapters in books |  Collections (editor) |  Conference papers |  Doctoral theses, monographs |  Other |  Reports | 

Articles in journals

Articles, book reviews

Articles, reviews/surveys

Books

Chapters in books

Collections (editor)

Conference papers

Doctoral theses, monographs

Other

Reports