Adaptation or Diffusion of the Swedish Gender Model?

Bergqvist, Christina; Jungar, Ann-Cathrine

doi:10.1057/9780230378056_9

Cited by 8 publications

(13 citation statements)

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“…In the Nordic governmental rationality, legislation on equal opportunities has generally been considered complementary to policy making in the economic and social fields (Bergqvist and Jungar, 2000;Gordon, 2006). On the one hand, as the former draws on managerial rationalities and project techniques originally developed in liberal welfare states, particularly the United States, it seems to transform the Nordic approach.…”

Section: Conclusion and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Europeanization of Nordic Gender Equality: A Foucauldian Analysis of Reconciling Work and Family in Finland

Eräranta¹,

Kantola

2016

Gender Work & Organization

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In this article, we analyse the case of reconciling work and family as a particularly illuminative example of the effects of soft Europeanization. We focus on one particular policy instrument of the EU, namely projects co‐funded by the European Social Fund (ESF), which have sought to develop family‐friendly arrangements in Finnish workplaces. Our analysis suggests that this soft law instrument can result in significant changes in member states, even in cases where the member state's own policy is well entrenched. Theoretically, our contribution is to connect soft Europeanization to the Foucauldian theory on power, and the literature on Analytics of Government specifically. From this perspective we argue that the ESF development projects function as Foucauldian ‘technologies of involvement’. We find that by stabilizing and normalizing project techniques and managerial rationalities untypical for previous gender equality and work–family policies in the country, the ESF projects in our case partly challenge some established principles of Nordic welfare policies, such as universalism and state responsibility for welfare measures. Moreover, as ESF projects have managed to involve mainly female‐dominated organizations and women as participants, we pose the question whether this kind of soft‐law instrument that trusts the self‐regulation capacities of actors can bring about change in gendered conventions.

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Section: Conclusion and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Europeanization of Nordic Gender Equality: A Foucauldian Analysis of Reconciling Work and Family in Finland

Eräranta¹,

Kantola

2016

Gender Work & Organization

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“…Sweden is recognized as being the first society where the "dual breadwinner" family is the norm (Bergqvist and Jungar, 2000;Mosesdottir, 2000). Alongside Sweden's goal of gender equality is the value placed on children as a precious resource.…”

Section: Swedenmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…During the same year, the EU established an Advisory Committee on Equality. According to Bergqvist and Jungar (2000), the committee was established because of pressure from Anita Gradin, the first EU Commissioner from Sweden. Two of the six committee members were from the new member states of Sweden and Finland, which already had legislation granting fathers' rights to paid parental leave (Stratigaki, 2000).…”

Section: Development Of European Union Policy Regarding Parental Leavementioning

confidence: 99%

“…As early as 1968, Sweden set itself apart from other nations when policymakers began advocating a new gender model, where "Equality means that women and men have the same rights, obligations, and opportunities to have a job that gives them economic independence to care for home and children and to participate in political, union, and other activ-ities in society" (Statistiska Centralbyrin, 1990, my translation). Sweden is recognized as being the first society where the "dual breadwinner" family is the norm (Bergqvist and Jungar, 2000;Mosesdottir, 2000). Alongside Sweden's goal of gender equality is the value placed on children as a precious resource.…”

Section: Swedenmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Swedish feminists expressed concern that joining the EU would negatively impact Sweden's efforts to bring about equality between women and men in the public spheres of employment and politics and in the private sphere of the home (Bergqvist and Jungar, 2000). By 1995, Sweden had progressed further than other EU states in developing policies and programs designed to increase women's opportunities in the labor market and politics and men's opportunities to participate actively in child care.…”

Section: Swedenmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Parental Leave and Gender Equality: Lessons from the European Union

Haas

2003

Review of Policy Research

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This article describes the development of European Union parental leave policy and its impact on mothers' and fathers' access to parental leave in the individual nations that make up the union. Cross-national variations in parental leave policy are described and analyzed. Although the 15 countries belonging to the EU in 2002 are concerned about helping working parents reconcile employment and family responsibilities, so far, only one-Sweden-has begun to develop a parental leave policy likely to facilitate men's and women's sharing of responsibility for breadwinning and child care.

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Policy Discourses on ‘Reconciling Work and Life’ in the EU

Duncan¹

2002

Social Policy & Society

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This paper outlines the development EU policy discourse on`the reconciliation of work and family life'. This imposes a policy disjuncture on New Labour, for, while the British government may be ideologically more attracted to the liberal US model of`¯exible' labour, it is bound by EU law to implement a more corporatist gender equality model. The paper notes how themes of economic competition, democratisation, and protecting gender contracts emerged at the foundation EU gender policy. It traces these themes into an`equal opportunities at work' discourse during the 1970s and 1980s and, with the increasing importance of the`demographic time bomb' discourse and of Scandinavian style gender equality, into discourses stressing the`reconciliation of paid work with family life' and gender mainstreaming. The paper ends by addressing the`half-empty or half-full' assessments of EU gender policy.

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Adaptation or Diffusion of the Swedish Gender Model?

Cited by 8 publications

References 0 publications

The Europeanization of Nordic Gender Equality: A Foucauldian Analysis of Reconciling Work and Family in Finland

The Europeanization of Nordic Gender Equality: A Foucauldian Analysis of Reconciling Work and Family in Finland

Parental Leave and Gender Equality: Lessons from the European Union

Policy Discourses on ‘Reconciling Work and Life’ in the EU

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