Feminist Political Organization in Iceland: Some Reflections on the Experience of Kwenna Frambothid

Abstract

History is littered with examples of feminist activity aimed at eliminating gender oppression. The continued persistence of sexual inequality reflects the enormity of the task being undertaken. Creating the political machinery capable of transforming society in accordance with feminist objectives has also proved elusive for feminists who insist that the machinery they create for so doing remains true to the collectivist principles of practice enunciated in feminist theory. The question of how women should organize in pursuing their aims has been responded to by feminists in the current phase of the women's liberation movement in a variety of ways. These range from separate women-only organizations to mixed organizations which include men who sympathize with feminist objectives. Although these solutions remain both controversial and problematic for feminists (Connolly and Segal, 1986), their experiences provide lessons which can clarify the issues at stake and be of benefit to women elsewhere. This multiplicity of responses is indicative both of feminism's commitment to a pluralism which provides women with the space for developing their own creative solutions to life's dilemmas and of its reluctance to propose a single way forward which all adherents are expected to uphold. In this article we will consider the extent to which feminist political organization can promote the feminist objectives of tackling gender discrimination by focusing on the experience of Kwenna Frambothid in Iceland. An exploration of this case reveals the complexity entailed in such a venture and suggests that eschewing monolithic answers to women's liberation constitutes part of feminism's strength as well as part of its weakness.