Gender equality strategy has flaws
The strategy which Sweden’s municipalities apply to increase gender equality in society has flaws. This is shown in a thesis by Renée Andersson, political scientist at Örebro University. “It isn’t far-reaching enough to bring about system change.”
Renée Andersson conducts research on gender mainstreaming – also known as gender integration. It is a strategy which public operations have applied since the 1990s to attain increased gender equality in society. The central idea is that a gender-equal perspective should be represented at all stages of a decision process, from start to finish.
Renée Andersson examines what came about when a municipality introduced this method in their activities from 2008–2012. The study also covers a national programme, which this municipal project was a part of.
“In my thesis, I examine in what way this strategy contributes to feminist policy. What I have arrived at is that the strategy has flaws,” she explains.
No fundamental change
Often gender mainstreaming is described as potentially transformative, that is to say, it can fundamentally change an operation or organisation. However, the thesis shows that such a description is incorrect, those possibilities do not exist.
“The strategy’s main objective is of course to reach gender equality in society, and therefore it’s necessary to talk about topics like the distribution of power and men's violence against women. But that isn’t happening. Instead, the public discussion revolves around everyone benefitting from increased gender equality. This, in turn, leads to politicians easily reaching a consensus concerning the strategy’s advantages – which contributes to a de-politicisation of gender equality policies.”
Questions silenced
It is Renée Andersson’s opinion that essential questions are silenced or excluded; which results in a consensus approach in which women's and men's potentially different interests remain unspoken. There is also a notion among politicians and officials that increased knowledge, better education and information, lead to gender equality.
“This notion is a fairly naive one actually. In fact, increased knowledge doesn’t lead to automatic change towards increased gender equality.”
The municipality she studied had excellent prospects of implementing this strategy. There were sufficient resources, dedicated staff, support from politicians and officials, and more.
“Still, they had these problems. Which may imply that such difficulties with gender mainstreaming may also exist in other places, both in Sweden and internationally.”
Reveal and problematise
Renée Andersson’s critical study relates to the strategy itself and how it is used – not that public operations are pushing towards a more gender-equal society.
“The challenge is to reveal other aspects and to problematise the measures we use to bring about a more gender-equal society, not to let up on gender equality policy.”
Text and photo: Mattias Frödén
Translation: Jerry Gray