Visuality, Digital Visibility and Feminist Foreign Policy

Abstract

In this chapter, we explore how online opportunities, emerging from visual language, symbolic representation and global visibilities productively diffused the communication of Sweden’s feminist foreign policy to global audiences. The launch and trajectory of Sweden’s feminist foreign policy involved the management of visual representations and close navigation of the visual saturation of the contemporary political information environment. The reach and resonance of Sweden’s feminist foreign policy were strengthened by the political mobilisation and employment of a range of visual representations and visibility structures. This chapter analyses the use of visual language in the political articulation of Sweden’s feminist foreign policy. To this effect, we provide a visual analysis of a photo exhibition that became a successful conversation, enabling the connection between the global goals of feminist foreign policy with wider gender debates that resonated with a range of national settings. Finally, we analyse the WikiGap initiative, which aimed to enhance the visibility of women’s stories and experiences online. The initiative illustrates how Sweden’s contestation of gendered politics was made visible online.