Statsfeminismens møte med næringslivet – Bakgrunnen og gjennombruddet for kjønnskvotering i bedriftsstyrer som politisk reform

Abstract

Gender quotas are increasingly used as a tool for achieving gender equality worldwide. Nevertheless quotas are still perceived as controversial. In 2003, the Norwegian Parliament adopted a legal amendment introducing a 40 percent gender quota to boards of directors in state owned companies, and also, in public limited companies (PLC). The fact that PLCs were included was particularly controversial, given the widespread feeling that private ownership rights were under threat as a result. The controversy was further fuelled by the fact that a liberal/conservative government played a leading role putting forward the draft legislation.This thesis is based in the controversy over the quota legislation and presents a qualitative, empirical study of how gender quotas on corporate boards were formulated and staged as a policy reform. The empirical material examined consists of policy documents, procedure documents, transcripts of parliamentary debates, media texts, opinion pieces, as well as qualitative interviews with key politicians and officers in the ministries associated with the reform process. Actors, actions and events relevant to the reform are mapped out with an analytical focus on sociocultural processes, argumentation and the production of meaning. Theoretically, the thesis draws on Science and Technology Studies, Actor Network Theory and discourse theory.The overarching aim of the empirical analysis, presented in four independent research articles, has been to challenge common beliefs about how gender equality politics are developed. The first paper discusses the use of State Feminism as an explanatory model for new gender equality initiatives, and argues that the making of the reform involved a set of complex processes within a broad range of societal arenas. Especially significant was what I have called “business feminism”, namely work and chains of action established within the industrial sector. The second article is a comparative study of arguments in favor of gender quotas in PLCs and in the Federation of Norwegian Agricultural Co-operatives. In the latter case, gender quotas were introduced voluntarily, as opposed to the case of the PLCs, where quota measures were enforced by politicians. In both cases, the main line of argument focused on what was in “the best interest of the companies”, and, as such, the discourse of gender equality was silenced. The third article investigates the administrative work of crafting the bases for decision making and communication strategies. The analysis shows how the process was characterized by pragmatic arguments and by considerations related to industry relevance. Research was used to support claims that gender balance would increase profits. The final paper contextualizes the previous findings related to the way gender and equality were avoided as explicit topics in the policy making process. An analysis of contemporary media debates on the concept of feminism shows that state feminism is under pressure from various sides and that antifeminism is profiting from this onslaught.Overall, the thesis contributes to an ongoing debate on the need for developing new theoretical and analytical perspectives on gender equality politics. Feminist analysis of politics has traditionally focused on the imbalance in gender power and on the reproduction of gendered stereotypes. This thesis proposes an analytical approach to gender which recognizes the ambivalence and changing meanings of gender throughout the policy making process.