Gender Equality and Nation Branding in the Nordic Region

Abstract

This book explores how gender equality, a central part of the Nordic imaginary, is used in the political communication of Nordic states. The analyses presented move beyond conventional images and discourses of Nordic gender-and women-friendliness by critically investigating how and to what extent gender equality serves nation-branding in the Nordic region.Nation-branding is an unescapable part of globalisation, which is a market-oriented process dominated by the West and predicated on the creation of winners and losers. Hence, efforts to strengthen the national brand or reputation of specific Nordic countries with the aid of gender equality as a political and symbolic value inevitably help to reinforce already established global hierarchies where the Nordics play the role of moral superpower. This book comprises scholars from various fields of specialisation, and provides evidence and understanding for the growing interaction between gender-equality policies and nation-branding in all five Nordic countries. It does so by exploring a variety of policy fields and issues including women's rights, foreign policy, rape and legislation, female quotas and business policies, in addition to the index industry. The rise of the global indexes has reproduced forceful images of the Nordic countries as frontrunners of gender equality, which indeed help the Nordic countries to further position themselves as 'best at being good'. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of Nordic gender equality in political science, sociology, law, criminology, political psychology and history, as well as those interested in nation-branding, Nordic studies and exceptionalism.

Notions About Men and Masculinities Among Health Care Professionals Working With Men’s Sexual Health: A Focus Group Study

“…Sweden, like other Nordic countries, has been described as progressive in the area of gender equality (Larsen et al, 2021), ranking first on the EU's Gender Equality Index in 2020 (European Institute for Gender Equality [EIGE], 2020). Previous research suggests that normative masculinity in Sweden is changing to include ideas of gender equality and being a caring and present father (Johansson & Klinth, 2008).…”

Branding ‘progressive’ security: The case of Sweden

“…Such research provides much-needed nuance and complexity to a subject so often shrouded in myth and stereotyping. The mainstay of this scholarship questions the notion of Nordic exceptionalism by highlighting a wide array of contradictions (Simons and Manoilo, 2019), together with growing challenges to the comparative reputational advantage of the 'Nordic brand', inter alia, issues concerning gender equality (Larsen et al, 2021), and Nordic humanitarianism (de Bengy Puyvallée and Bjørkdahl, 2021). There are also emergent critiques of how the Nordic countries have responded to recent 'crises' such as the refugee crisis (Gammeltoft-Hansen, 2021) and the Covid-19 pandemic (Milne, 2020), which some argue, have diminished the notion of so-called 'Nordic exceptionalism'.…”

Public Policy to Reduce Inequalities across Europe

“…The second explanation concerns policy outputs more than processes. The self-positioning of these countries as leaders in gender equality has impelled a progressive 'race to the top' , using policy innovation as part of broader efforts at nation-branding and reputation building (Larsen et al, 2021; compare with Chapters 3 and 5). Indeed, Nordic countries have produced a number of distinctive policies aimed at reducing gender inequalities that have been studied and (comprehensively or partially) transferred by many other states.…”