Suchergebnisse

Through a study of the narratives and practices in a gender-balanced social worksite, this article identifies institutionalized gender normalization processes. In the tales, the social workers told of their work, they reiterated the value of a gender-balanced workforce, together with the ideal of a gender-neutral profession. This view made it hard for the workers to see the ways in which the gender order they were involved in reproduces a gendered hierarchy in which male social workers are accorded greater value and an increased space of action, while female social workers and femininity are characterized by shortcomings when compared to men.

The purpose of this article is to explore through a reading of an official Swedish policy document what questions and challenges such a document poses for feminist theory by the way the 'normal' is (re)assembled in accordance with what others have called the risk politics of advanced liberalism. The intensified focus on risk in neoliberalism has seen responsibility move from the state to individuals, and old divisions between society and market as well as between civil society and state are being refigured. The argument put forward here is that current modes of governance tend to neglect the complexities of present-day life courses when using a gender-'neutral' approach to social policy that is in fact the work of a gender regime. ; Normalization and the neoliberalwelfare state

Sweden is often considered one of the most gender-equal countries in the world and held up as a model to follow, but the reality is more complex. This is the first book to explode the myth of Swedish gender equality, both offering a new perspective for an international audience, and suggesting how equality might be rethought more generally. While the authors argue that the gender-equality mantra in Sweden has led to a society with increased opportunities for some, they also assert that the dominant norm of gender equality has become nationalistic and builds upon heteronormative and racial principles. Examining the changing meanings and parameters of gender equality against the country's social-democratic tradition and in the light of contemporary neoliberal ideologies, the book constitutes an urgent contribution to the debates about gender-equality policies and politics