Incredibly loud and extremely silent: Feminist foreign policy on Twitter

Abstract

In 2014, Sweden’s Feminist Foreign Policy (FFP) was announced with a fanfare. This article critically interrogates how Sweden implements the FFP through digital diplomacy by investigating the extent of Sweden’s gender equality activities on Twitter since the introduction of the FFP and by tracing gendered online abuse in digital diplomacy. I focus on Swedish embassy tweets towards two countries where feminism is highly contested – Poland and Hungary. The theoretical inspiration comes from discursive approaches to the spoken and unspoken, enriched by feminist observations about the non-binary character of voice/silence. The method applied is gender-driven quantitative and qualitative content analysis. The findings demonstrate that the FFP has not set any significant mark on digital diplomacy in the analyzed cases. The launching of the FFP went completely unnoticed and posts related to gender equality have actually decreased since 2014. There are no traces of ambassadors being subjected to gendered online abuse, but heavily xenophobic and paternalistic language is directed at Sweden as a representative of liberal policies. The article contributes to the literature on digital diplomacy by highlighting the (lack of) links between foreign policy and digital diplomacy and it addresses a gap by focusing on gender in digital diplomacy.

Sweden's feminist foreign policy in national newspapers in EU member states (2014–2020): Media logic or political logic?

“…The newspaper articles are analysed based on both descriptive quantitative analysis and qualitative content analysis (Krippendorff, 2018; Riffe et al, 2019). The five dimensions of the two logics were analysed by first developing codes deductively, based on the operationalisations of each dimension.…”

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“…Displaying resilience and strategic foresight, these leaders charted a course through the tumultuous waters of the conflict. Harnessing the power of diverse platforms -from public speeches and Twitter to appearances at European institutions such as the European Parliament and NATO -they amplified their diplomatic stance and policy objectives, frequently acknowledging Russian aggression and taking a decisive stance against the threat (Jezierska, 2022;Sandu, n.d.;Sutryin, 2021;Xiao & Su, 2022).…”

“…Effective mobilization and networking strategies are key factors in amplifying women's political influence and fostering a more resilient democracy (Faxon et al, 2015;Neuman, 2008;Niklasson & Towns, 2022). The challenges female diplomats face in post-communist diplomatic institutions have been investigated, shedding light on the gender-related dynamics in diplomatic work (Jezierska, 2022;Kostadinova, 2022;Niklasson, 2020). These studies offer insights into the institutional and micro-political contexts in which Eastern European diplomats operate and develop, enhancing our understanding of the relationship between gender and diplomacy.…”

Feminist digital diplomacy and foreign policy change in Sweden

“…Here it is interesting to note that Sweden's digitally communicated feminist image is a relatively new phenomenon. In this context, Jezierska and Towns (2018), see also Jezierska (2021) observe that "feminism" was not more pronounced in Sweden's nation branding efforts after 2014, when the new direction in external conduct was adopted. Rather, it was omitted from the "Progressive Sweden" brand in favour of less antagonistic values including gender equality.…”

“…Together such new digital practices constitute major transformations of diplomacy, in particular in relation to the ways in which they have adjusted and adapted to the emergence and consolidation of new digital global environments. Yet, there are few studies that have applied gender or feminist perspectives to the analysis of digital diplomacy (Jezierska and Towns 2018;Wright 2019;Wright and Guerrina 2020;Jezierska 2021).…”