The Swedish MFA: Ready to Live Up to Expectations?

Niklasson, Birgitta; Robertson, Felicia

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-58682-3_4

Cited by 7 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Given similar historical development, the presented study thus lays the groundwork for further regional research in this field. The study also brings new qualitative data from the underresearched work-family axis of top diplomats to the literature on gender and diplomacy in general, since the majority of existing research focuses on the MFA as an institution and on its female representation without a detailed work-family focus (Bashevkin 2018; Farias de Souza and do Carmo 2018; Flowers 2018; Linse 2004; Niklasson and Robertson 2018; Rumelili and Suleymanoglu-Kurum 2018). This research expands older analysis of dual careers and linked lives in diplomacy from the 1990s (Han and Moen 2002; Hendry 1998; Krüger and Lévy 2001) by adding the concept of mobility from the private sphere (especially from transnational business) and other fields of the public sphere (e.g., academia; see Vohlídalová 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many countries only allowed women to formally join diplomatic corps in the second half of the twentieth century. Moreover, their careers were further limited by the “marriage bar,” 5 forcing women to choose between family and career (e.g., Farias de Souza and do Carmo 2018; Flowers 2018; Niklasson and Robertson 2018; Rumelili and Suleymanoglu-Kurum 2018). Interestingly, one of the arguments used in favor of this policy was that diplomatic husbands would be harder to control and less loyal to the service than diplomatic wives (Wood 2005).…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a result, they often face isolation and emotional distancing ( Embassy Magazine 2016; Hendry 1998; Linse 2004), as well as the additional cost of running two separate households (Vohlídalová 2014). Moreover, as accentuated by the Swedish research, the option of working abroad alone seems to be less acceptable for women (as mothers) than for men (Niklasson and Robertson 2018). The problem with male partners was also a central theme for a majority of interviewees in the United States (Linse 2004), the United Kingdom ( Embassy Magazine 2016), and South Korea (Tran Thanh Ha 2014), even though interviewed female diplomats in these countries seem to solve this problem differently.…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Work and Family Balance in Top Diplomacy: The Case of the Czech Republic

2022

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While female representation in the top diplomatic circles was almost nonexistent during the Czechoslovak era, the number of female diplomats in the Czech Republic has steadily increased since the fall of the state-socialist regime. Women are currently solidly represented in the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), but very few (14%) reach highest diplomatic positions. This study examines the main challenges that influence the careers of top diplomats using quantitative and qualitative data, including official statistics and documents of the Czech MFA and interviews with top diplomats and officials. The results indicate that work-family conflicts are the main challenge for all diplomats. However, women are apparently affected more disproportionately because of the existing “double burden” and a specific “concept of motherhood” vested in a deeply essentialist understanding of gender roles. These barriers have origins at the personal, institutional, and state levels that are strongly interrelated and historically and politically path dependent.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Work and Family Balance in Top Diplomacy: The Case of the Czech Republic

2022

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“…The first question echoes the persistent concern about the figures of women's presence, but without losing sight of its qualitative dimension. Though the numbers of diplomats have been increasing in various countries and international negotiations, gender parity is still restricted to a few places (such as Sweden) (Aggestam & Towns, 2018;Niklasson & Robertson, 2018). In Brazil, approximately 25% of the national diplomatic staff is composed of women, a share that decreases the more one climbs the ladder of prestigious posts in the career (Farias & Carmo, 2018).…”

Section: Studying Gender and Diplomacy: Agendas And Findingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender, Feminism and Diplomacy: Analysing the Institution through the Lenses of Feminist International Relations

Lenine

Sanca

2022

Organ. Soc.

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The feminist agenda in International Relations has recently drawn attention to gender issues in diplomacy, focusing mainly, though not exclusively, on analysing the trajectories of female diplomats in the institution. Though scarce, these studies approach the topic primarily via national case studies, resorting to the concept of gender to examine the power structures based on ideals of masculinity and femininity, which establish patterns of inequality and discrimination within the institution. In this article, we review national and international studies on gender and diplomacy, aiming to map the theoretical and methodological articulations underlying the gender analysis of diplomacy, which sees it as a gendered institution where gender-based hierarchies of power operate. In terms of methodology, we discuss the main concepts and theoretical frameworks of this research agenda, unraveling their connections to the broader feminist agenda in IR. We map the most recurrent methods and point out both theoretical and methodological gaps that need to be addressed in future research. Furthermore, we briefly review the main studies on gender and diplomacy conducted by the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and academia, attempting to bridge national and international studies on gender and diplomacy. We conclude that the research agenda on gender and diplomacy has a rich conceptual and theoretical arsenal that establishes multiple dialogues with institutional feminist theories and with feminisms in IR. However, important gaps persist both in terms of the incorporation of intersectionality and cross-national comparative approaches, which are paramount to advancing gender analyses of diplomacy as an institution.

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“…In the Turkish MFA, for instance, more women serve as consular and expert officers than as career diplomats (Rumelili and Suleymanoglu-Kurum 2018). In the Swedish MFA, women are still overrepresented in administrative units, despite an overall gender parity in the organization for almost two decades (Niklasson and Robertson 2018). To be sure, this is not to suggest that nothing has changed during the past two decades.…”

Section: The Diplomatic Infrastructurea Gendered Institutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The gender turn in diplomacy: a new research agenda

Aggestam

Towns

2018

International Feminist Journal of Politics

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This article argues that the (re-)constitution of diplomacy is intimately linked to gender and the practices of exclusion and inclusion of women and men over time. While the big debates in both academia and among practitioners concern the change and continuity of diplomacy in the last hundred years, gender has received scant, if any, attention. The overarching aim of this article is therefore to advance a new research agenda, which can spur future gender studies and contribute to rethinking diplomacy. It presents an original narrative about three distinct bodies of diplomatic scholarly work that focus on (1) diplomatic history; (2) descriptive representation; and (3) gendered institutions. We conclude that first there is a need to move out of Europe and North America to provide greater focus on Africa, Asia and Latin America. Second, there is a need to move beyond the descriptive single case studies towards more systematic comparisons, which can trace change in institutional gender dynamics over time. Ethnographic work can provide novel insights to gendered micro-processes and the daily mundane institutional practices. Third, as part of the gender turn in the field of diplomacy international feminist theory can generate significant theoretical contributions to the transformation of diplomacy.

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The Swedish MFA: Ready to Live Up to Expectations?

Cited by 7 publications

References 4 publications

Work and Family Balance in Top Diplomacy: The Case of the Czech Republic

Work and Family Balance in Top Diplomacy: The Case of the Czech Republic

Gender, Feminism and Diplomacy: Analysing the Institution through the Lenses of Feminist International Relations

The gender turn in diplomacy: a new research agenda

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