Feminist Foreign Policy 3.0: Advancing Ethics and Gender Equality in Global Politics

Abstract

A growing number of states, including Canada, Norway, Sweden, Australia, and the United Kingdom, have adopted gender- and feminist-informed approaches to their foreign and security policies. Sweden’s feminist foreign policy was launched in 2014 and rests on the idea that gender equality is central to security and foreign policy. This article conducts an analysis of the incremental development of Sweden’s feminist foreign policy. It underlines three pillars that have informed Swedish foreign policy: rights, representation, and resources. The article assesses how these three pillars have been transformed into distinct policy and practice. It makes the following three conclusions. First, Sweden’s feminist foreign policy is distinguished by its working method pertaining to norm change whereby gendered practices and structures in global politics are challenged. Second, from the outset Sweden’s feminist foreign policy has pursued a head-wind agenda, which reflects a readiness to confront contestation in global politics. Third, as a way of tackling resistance and promoting pro-norm equality diffusion a fourth “R” has been advanced, which stands for reality checks and research.