Gender Equality Work Research Articles

Att göra kön i kommunal politik. Lokala variationer av gender mainstreaming och kvinnofrid

The transformative potential of gender mainstreaming is vividly debated: some argue that organisational integration and diffusion of responsibility of gender equality work prevent marginalisation of the gender perspective (Squires 2005; Walby 2005). Others claim that the change potentially achieved by gender mainstreaming is hindered by norms and functions within already gendered organisations (Stratigaki 2005; Verloo 2005; Bacchi et al 2010). From within a feminist new-institutionalist framework, we focus on the modern gender equality work as we investigate local variation of gender-based violence and gender mainstreaming in five Swedish municipalities. More specifically, we investigate if gender mainstreaming contributes to change and institutionalisation of the municipalities’ work on combating violence against women. We develop and apply the concepts of framing, responsibility, designate of gender and spreading/visibility of gender-based violence in public documents. The empirical findings indicate that the presence of gender mainstreaming do not correlate with a positive transformation in combating gender-based violence. The results also reveal substantial differences between the researched municipalities, however overall indicating that gender equality and gender-based violence are continuously perceived as non-related. The analysis suggests that the integration of the two policy areas is largely affected by how doing gender is practiced in the local context. Although gender-based violence is often considered the ultimate sign of gender inequality, and on the national level a political issue, it does not always permeate the work against gender-based violence on the local level.

Firefighters as exceptional: heroism, nationalism and masculinity in times of suburban riots and anti-racist protests

Recent years have seen riots in metropolitan suburbs in Sweden which have raised public debates on segregation processes in Sweden and the downsizing of the welfare state. In this process attacks on firefighters are highlighted as indicators that the welfare state of Sweden is in trouble. At the same time the firefighters' profession could also be seen as exceptional in terms of resistance towards gender equality and diversity work. Based on ethnographic studies of firefighters this article suggests that such paradoxes call attention to the contingency of masculinity construction in this progression. It is proposed that the growing field of studies on firefighters and masculinity may contribute to understanding how the masculine and heroic imaginary of firefighters may reproduce normalizing intersections of heroism, nationalism and masculinity.

Administrators or Critical Cynics? A Study of Gender Equality Workers in Swedish Higher Education

Gender equality workers have to perform a balancing act between feminist ideals for change and neo-liberal management trends. So-called audit discourses have gradually been introduced into Swedish universities, in line with an enterprise model. In this new context, the aim of our article is to investigate how gender equality workers at universities articulate gender equality and possibilities for change. What are their visions and strategies for achieving gender equality? This article is based on interviews with gender equality workers at three Swedish universities and explores how the legitimate gender equality worker is constructed. We found that there is a lack of visionary thinking among gender equality workers, which manifests itself in a sense that the distinction between visions and strategies has collapsed and technologies like auditing have become the vision. It seems that, whilst navigating between liberal feminist discourses and an increasingly neo-liberal setting, two positions are available for gender equality workers. The first is the “administrator”, who asks for more tools and monitoring of gender equality, in order for the work to become more efficient and legitimate. The second position, the “critical cynic”, makes scepticism and resistance to the increasing bureaucratization of gender equality work possible, but lacks alternative visions and strategies. Gender equality initiatives have thus become increasingly embedded in auditing technologies, and the possibilities for articulating alternatives or visionary ideals, beyond liberal values of anti-discrimination, seem limited.

Male Managers Challenging and Reinforcing the Male Norm in Management

This paper explores the possibilities of male executives challenging the masculine norm in management through greater gender awareness in organizations. The impact of presence of women managers and a gender equality discourse in a large male-dominated company in Sweden is in focus in this empirical study. Results demonstrate how constructions of management change when awareness of gender inequality increases. Men challenge the norm when questioning the ideology that justifies men's domination in management. At the same time, constructions of masculinity expand to include new equality ideals and consequently add on possibilities for male managers, thus reinforcing the male norm in management. Constructions of women change, as individual women managers are described as superior, but women managers are still seen as deficient and less suitable for management, as belonging to a gendered category. The implications for organizational analysis and organizational work for change are greater awareness of how gender equality (GE), can simultaneously challenge and reinforce the masculine norm in management. The positive construction of women in management does not necessarily challenge the masculine norm in management, unless GE work is linked to challenging the masculine norm as part of the dominant organizational culture.

Att synliggöra det osynliga. Design som aktör i jämställdhetsarbete

Research points to the need for developing methods to change established gender orders and converting gender perspectives into practical action. Based on a gender equality project at the Centre for Health Technology Halland (HCH), this article discusses the potential of critical design as an agent within the framework of gender equality work and work for change. The project worked with critical design as a tool for making visible what a gender perspective can mean in the context of one’s work, in this case health technology. It resulted in a conceptual prototype called the Androchair – a medical chair designed for men but based on women’s experiences of the gynaecological chair. The aim of the article is to study and discuss the significance of including a prototype, that is an object, in the gender equality work of an organisation. Special focus is placed on whether, and in that case how, a prototype can influence notions of gender and gender equality in relation to one’s own area of work. The empirical data consists of qualitative interviews with staff at the HCH. Actor-network theory is used to interpret the data. The analysis shows how the Androchair raises questions of power, needs and interpretative prerogative in relation to what one does in one’s work. Furthermore, it does this to a greater extent than more conventional ways of conveying knowledge about gender equality (such as academic texts, statistics and PowerPoint presentations). Physical objects are perceived of as making gender and gender equality issues more tangible.

Feminist solidarity: no boys allowed? Views of pro-feminist men on collaboration and alliance-building with women's movements

The field of men's pro-feminist organising continues to build global momentum. Boys and men are both capable, and interested, to take action to support the feminist movement. This article explores the experiences of five men active in pro-feminist organising, focusing in particular on their ways of building solidarity and alliances with women's rights networks. The current context of men's pro-feminist organising and the ways in which alliances are being forged with women's rights networks will be explored, demonstrating a diversity of approaches. The challenges are many, particularly as women's rights networks find themselves in a hostile funding climate, and ‘men's rights’ groups continue to delegitimise women's rights and deny the existence of gender inequality. Despite these challenges, pro-feminist men's organisations are employing strategies to enhance relationships with women's rights networks, and ensure their efforts retain feminist at the core. The importance of self-reflexivity and listening for pro-feminist men to operate in feminist spaces will be stressed, as well as to build broader coalitions and create additional resources for gender equality work.

Challenging gender inequalities in education and in working life – a mission possible?

This article deals with challenging the gender inequalities that exist in education and working life. It contemplates the kinds of discursive power relations that have led to gender equality work in Finland. In today’s conditions where equality issues are being harnessed more strongly to serve the aims of economic efficiency and productivity, it is even more important to understand how people who actively seek change have succeeded in negotiating equality issues. The article also explores the current situation by conducting an analysis that makes clear not only the discursive power relations that shape gender equality work, but also how it has been possible for the work to continue successfully.

Men's involvement in gender equality – European perspectives

This article is based on a study that was commissioned from the Swedish non-government organisation, Men for Gender Equality, by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE). The aim of the research was to map stakeholders – including public authorities, research centres, civil society organisations, social partners, and individual experts – working to engage men in gender equality work in all 27 Member States and at European level. Drawing on existing scholarship in the field of men and masculinities, the article outlines the current regional and national context, and the main findings of the research that were published as a report by the EIGE. The article examines the extent and nature of the work, identifying 241 organisations working on themes such as gender equality, violence prevention, fatherhood/caregiving, health, gay/bisexual and transgender issues, and education and learning. The greatest number were found in Sweden and the UK, and the fewest in Central and Eastern Europe. The article highlights different perspectives on the benefits of involving men in gender equality initiatives and examines stakeholder views of the obstacles to this work. It concludes with some observations on ways forward.

Persuasions, Resistance and Other Discourse Virtuosities

This article concerns the discursive power relations that have led to equality work in Finland. In addition to marketisation, publicly-funded projects, especially those funded by the European Union, have permeated the public sector. Equality has been labelled women’s work and something that women do and the continuity of equality work requires a complex form of competence. In this article, ways have been looked to analyse the current situation by conducting an analysis that will enable to see not only the discursive power relations that shape gender equality work but also how it has been possible that gender equality work has succeeded in remaining continuous. Persistence of problems concerning equality as well as co-operation between women and the ‘discourse virtuosity’ of equality work have opened up opportunities for continuity but not without problems.

Editors' Introduction

Editors’ Introduction Judith Plaskow and Melanie Johnson-DeBaufre From its beginnings, the JFSR has striven to be a serious academic journal that at the same time is rooted in and serves women’s activism in the academy and beyond. As our mission statement says, the editors “are committed to rigorous thinking and analysis in the service of the transformation of religious studies as a discipline and the feminist transformation of religious and cultural institutions.” While we hope that this commitment is evident in every issue of the journal, the current volume perhaps illustrates especially well the ways in which critical scholarship can open up new directions for activism and reflection on activism can strengthen scholarship. The fall issue is always the time that we have the pleasure of announcing the Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza New Scholar Award recipients, a project that itself contributes to the feminist transformation of religious studies by nurturing the next generation of feminist scholars. This year’s first place goes to Ally Kateusz for her article “Collyridian Déjà Vu: The Trajectory of Redaction of the Markers of Mary’s Liturgical Leadership” and second place goes to Amy L. Allocco for “From Survival to Respect: The Narrative Performances and Ritual Authority of a Female Hindu Healer.” Allocco’s article appeared in the previous issue (29.1) as part of a special section, Illuminating Women’s Religious Authority through Ethnography. Articles submitted for the award go through the normal review process and then, if accepted, are sent to a subcommittee of the board that reads and ranks them. Thanks to Kwok Pui Lan, Sylvia Marcos, and Miranda Shaw for serving on this year’s selection committee, and congratulations to the winners. All the articles in this issue point to new directions for activism and/or feminist scholarly investigation. Meredith Minister, in her article “Religion and (Dis)Ability in Early Feminism,” draws on contemporary disability theory to show how Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Sojourner Truth’s views of equality participated in the marginalization of people with disabilities prevalent in their time. Building on a significant body of work that has analyzed and critiqued the racist and classist rhetoric of many first-wave feminists, Minister points out that ableism has not been subjected to the same feminist scrutiny. She begins her essay with a discussion of the physical health movement and its impact on the ways that people in the nineteenth century thought about embodiment, health, [End Page 1] and illness. In line with the movement’s thinking, Minister says, Stanton argued for women’s innate intellectual, moral, and physical equality with men while assuming that those who are more capable in all these areas are more valuable human beings. Interestingly, Sojourner Truth, despite the ways she challenged racism and classicism in the feminist movement and despite her having a disabled hand, also accepted the idea that more productive members of society have more value. Contemporaneous photographs of Stanton and Truth buttressed their arguments by seeking to present them both as capable women, which in Truth’s case, involved hiding her disfigurement. Minister concludes by calling on feminists today to attend to ability as an important dimension of intersectionality and to develop new theological anthropologies that do not equate productivity with value. Fatima Seedat’s article, “Islam, Feminism, and Islamic Feminism,” seeks to create a space for gender-equality work within Islam by interrogating what she sees as the too-easy identification of such work with something called “Islamic feminism.” Taking off from Asma Barlas’s critique of Margot Badran’s insistence on using the term “Islamic feminism,” Seedat asks whether it is possible to theorize sexual equality using an alternative paradigm. On the one hand, given the hegemony of the European intellectual tradition, she says, it is almost inevitable that Muslim attempts to improve the quality of women’s lives will be identified with feminism. On the other hand, this label does not necessarily meet the needs of scholars who want to develop new understandings of sex difference in non-Western and postcolonial cultures without erasing the productive differences between Muslim women’s struggles for equality and those in other traditions. The problem, Seedat suggests, is that when...

Does Gender Equality work for Sustainable Development in Central Africa Countries? Some Empirical Lessons

It is commonly argued that Central Africa countries need economic growth and gender equality to ensure economic well-being and improve the living standards of the population. This paper, based on the Kuznets curve associated to environmental analysis, aims to analyze the relationship between gender equality and sustainable development. The cross-sectional analysis, with data from 11 countries in Central Africa in 2010, was used. Results find a positive correlation between gender equality and sustainable development. When the Multidimensional poverty index increases, environmental problems reduce, translating the role of gender in sustainable development in all Central Africa countries.

Does Gender Equality work for Sustainable Development in Central Africa Countries? Some Empirical Lessons

It is commonly argued that Central Africa countries need economic growth andgender equality to ensure economic well-being and improve the living standards ofthe population. This paper, based on the Kuznets curve associated toenvironmental analysis, aims to analyze the relationship between gender equalityand sustainable development. The cross-sectional analysis, with data from 11countries in Central Africa in 2010, was used. Results find a positive correlationbetween gender equality and sustainable development. When the Multidimensionalpoverty index increases, environmental problems reduce, translating the role ofgender in sustainable development in all Central Africa countries.

Jämställdhet i akademin – En avpolitiserad politik?

This article examines the relationship between gender equality and neo liberal governmentality in Swedish higher education. Neo liberal governmentality, such as market orientation, deregulation and audit technologies have to an increasingly extent been incorporated into, and shaped the very nature of Swedish academia. Yet, at the same time as the government has reduced direct steering of higher education, it has launched gender equality initiatives in the form of funding for temporary projects targeted at the academia. Against this backdrop, we are interested in analysing the relationship between gender equality policies and these new technologies of steering. We have analysed the government’s latest political initiative on gender equality, The Delegation for Gender Equality in Higher Education, and conducted interviews with academics and civil servants engaged in gender equality work at three Swedish universities. Adopting a Foucauldian framework, it is suggested that the two main forms of neo-liberal governmentality – marketisation and managerialism – are integrated parts of gender equality work, contributing to a de-politicisation of gender equality. While most informants described their work in terms of managerialism and martketisation, some expressed sceptical views and argued that competitiveness is a problematic way of doing gender equality. In order for gender equality to be ”marketable” and possible to sell, it has to be formulated in a way that does not appear too controversial, some argued. Interestingly, yet another form of governmentality was found to be central in the interviews – the wish for leadership. The lack of political steering (or state regulation) of gender equality has paradoxically lead to a situation in which calls for leadership appear legitimate and hierarchies within the university in general remain in large unproblematised.

S.J.RES30: The Equal Representation Act of 2011

We have reached a new age in gender equality. Our grandmothers recall times of discrimination and submission while their granddaughters have become world leaders in business, science and most importantly politics. But are the incredible achievements of women like Hillary Clinton and Condoleezza Rice, undermined by the lack of women coming up the political ranks? As a nation, fiercely proud of their stand on human rights, America is lagging behind on political gender equality. Enfranchisement is more than a right to vote and with women making up only 17% of Congress, America is placed 69 th in the world for percentage of women in the national legislature. Women offer vital perspectives and experiences that are crucial in law making and governance. Yet despite years of grassroots gender equality work, they continue to be underrepresented in decision making bodies. As the momentum of grassroots organizing arguable fades, our current law makers must take more responsibility for ensuring women’s political significance in the future. This paper proposes a legislative answer to the political gender divide. Positioned as a legislative to proposal to California Senator Barbara Boxer, this paper suggests political parties adopt a voluntary quota, to motivate, mentor and financially support potential female candidates in order to address the dismal representation of women in federal government. This paper looks at the political and social implications of this legislation, works from existing legislative structures both American and abroad and foresees the opposition and passage of legislation through the current Congress. The movement for gender equality needs a jump start, could that catalyst come from legislation itself?

Gendered socialization among girls and boys in children’s football teams in Sweden

This article examines the process of gender socialization in girls’ and boys’ football teams in Swedish children’s football. The article draws on data gathered from ethnographic fieldwork over two years which involved observations of the daily life of children’s football, and interviews with 11–12-year-old girls and boys, their coaches and parents in two sex-segregated football teams. The study is inspired by Connell’s gender theory (Connell, Gender, 2002), which provides support for the view that gender is a process of social construction in which children actively participate. An analysis of the ways the girls and boys talk about football and gender demonstrates how girls and boys produce a certain gender performance in the social interaction and how they relate to a male standard that exists in children’s football. Overall, this article contributes to a deeper understanding of the relationships between girls and boys and how children contribute to gendered socialization in sport. This article also discusses the relevance of gender equality work in child sport.

Contradictory values in doctoral education: a study of gender composition in disciplines in Swedish academia

Contradictory values in the Swedish doctoral education system are analysed through an interview and survey study of different academic disciplines: female-dominated, mixed and male-dominated. The focus is directed towards how the selected disciplines conduct application and selection processes in doctoral education and special attention is given to values regarding doctoral ideals, what a successful thesis should be like, how gender balance or imbalance is explained, and how activities aiming at gender equality are carried out. In the findings of this study, some specific patterns that show gendered discipline cultures in relation to doctoral education are apparent. The analysis shows an unclear or ambivalent view on gender and gender equality work in doctoral educations. In many of the issues investigated, essentialist views on gender emerge and a focus on gender differences is evident. The implicit assumption is that men and women are different and contribute to the discipline in disparate ways. The effectiveness of gender-specific doctoral strategies and to what extent gender equality work is viewed as a support strategy for women only, is discussed.

MDG 3 and the negotiation of gender in international education organisations

Gender equality in education has held a prominent position in global policy making over the last decade through international frameworks and declarations such as the Dakar framework of Action on Education for All and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This paper draws on interviews conducted with participants who hold a gender brief in international organisations, active in the global Education for All movement. It examines the ways in which global commitments to gender equality in education are being understood in policy and programme work and what this reveals about gender mainstreaming in global education organisations. The MDG framework has been actively used in a number of organisations to leverage action on gender, primarily with regard to improving girls’ access to schooling and achieving gender parity – equal numbers of girls and boys in school. This has meant that more substantive understandings of gender, which relate to the experiences of girls and women in and beyond school, often go un‐discussed and un‐addressed. The need for organisations to develop a more substantive notion of gender equality work linked to activism on women’s rights is highlighted as a considerable challenge. This would take gender mainstreaming from a technical exercise to a political contestation with regard to processes of inclusion and exclusion.

Views, events, and debates

Organisation profile: Promundo by Christine Ricardo and Liz Cooke In this profile, G&D looks at innovative Brazilian NGO, Promundo, which has pioneered gender equality work with men and boys. Interview: Dana Hovig In January 2009, in what was one of the first actions of his new presidency, Barack Obama overturned the policy widely known as the ‘Global Gag Rule’. This rule prevented US funding for any international organisation which provided abortion or offered information or advice on abortion, even in countries where abortion is a legal right. Here we talk to Dana Hovig, Chief Executive Officer of Marie Stopes International (MSI), a key provider of family planning services in many developing countries, on the significance of this move. Women paying the price for the global economic crisis by Bethan Emmett In the economic crisis which continues to affect our globalised economy, some are more vulnerable than others. In this piece, we hear the voices of women who represent some of the first casualties of the global economic downturn – their lack of rights compounding the damage done by the loss of their livelihoods. Conference report Women in Development Europe (WIDE) Annual Conference, ‘WE CARE! Feminist responses to the care crises’, 18–20 June 2009, Basel, Switzerland by Liz Cooke

Changes in working with gender equality in management in Sweden

PurposeThe article is based on a study of the changes in the methods used in working with gender equality issues in management in Sweden from the early 1990s until the early 2000s.Design/methodology/approachThe material consists of interviews with 20 people who work either as employees in organisations or as business owners/consultants in the field of increasing the numbers of women at executive levels. In the article, they are referred to as “equality professionals”.FindingsThe changes that have taken place may be described in two ways – partly changes in how the work is pursued within organisations, and partly through the work having moved to other arenas. When summarising the material, four overriding trends can be identified that characterise the changes in gender equality work: (1) a more radical understanding of gender equality among groups positive to change; (2) a professionalisation of gender equality work; (3) a shift from organisational projects to working with individuals; (4) a shift from organisational projects to influencing organisations from other public arenas.Research limitations/implications – Its focus on Sweden as well as its focus on a specific, quite small (20) group of people.Practical implicationsUseful and interesting for those working with gender equality, especially as Sweden is sometimes put forward as “the world's most gender equal country”.Originality/valueThe article has value because it shows the Swedish context as well as the longitudinal approach, i.e. that the study focuses on a 10‐year period (1993‐2002) and includes comparative material.

Book Review: Gender Equality and Decent Work: Good Practices at the Workplace. By ILO Bureau for Gender Equality. Geneva, Switzerland: International Labour Organization, 2005. 194 pp. Free download from ILO

Book Review: Gender Equality and Decent Work: Good Practices at the Workplace. By ILO Bureau for Gender Equality. Geneva, Switzerland: International Labour Organization, 2005. 194 pp. Free download from ILO