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This article addresses how intersectionality can be applied to studies of candidate selection. Based on empirical examples on the three stages of candidate selection in Sweden, it concludes that intersectionality is of importance not only in addressing the intersections between different forms of inequality and the resulting hierarchies between them, but also in drawing attention to dominant categories in any given context. By asking 'which women' and 'which men' are included as aspirants, candidates, and/or elected representatives, the mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion in candidate selection can be brought to the fore, particularly the ways in which the 'norm' (usually white privileged men) remains in power.

Ever since the 1990s, legislated gender quotas have been adopted across the world as a means to increase the number of women in elected bodies. In recent years, legislated gender quotas have also been adopted to rectify the under-representation of women on company boards. Sweden diverges from this trend. Despite the fact that Sweden has been recognized as a model of gender equality, being ranked among the most gender equal countries in the world and having achieved gender balanced political assemblies, legal gender quotas have not been enacted, neither in the political sphere nor in the economic sphere. This paper analyses women's path to power in Sweden. It studies the adoption of special measures and provides an assessment of the factors that facilitate or hinder increases in the proportion of women decision-makers in the political and economic sectors. By applying feminist institutional theory, the dynamics of institutional configurations facilitating or hindering change is investigated. It is argued that the interplay of institutions in the political sector operated in a mutually reinforcing way, thereby constituting a good fit, while the interaction of institutions in the economic sector functioned in a conflicting way. It is also claimed that women's movement organisations (working both within and outside of the political parties) represented critical actors in implementing party quotas in Sweden. Such coordinated efforts did not exist in the corporate sector. There, the forces of resistance were much stronger than the forces for change, thereby hindering the introduction of a legal corporate gender quota.

The official document adopted by the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing 1995 is called the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action for Equality, Development and Peace (PfA). The PfA is an agenda for women's empowerment that reaffirms the fundamental principle whereby the human rights of women and the girl child are an inalienable, integral and indivisible part of universal human rights. As an agenda for action, the platform seeks to promote and protect the full enjoyment of all human rights and the fundamental freedoms of all women throughout their life cycle.The report Beijing + 15: The Platform for Action and the European Union is the third review of development at the EU-level in relation to the 12 critical areas of concern of the PfA, building on the follow-up by the EU in 2000 and on the report from the Luxembourg Presidency in 2005. The report is based on the Council Conclusions on the follow-up of the Beijing PfA since 2005 and on information provided by the Member States in their answers to the UNECE questionnaire sent out in January 2009. The report has been realized under the supervision of the Ministry for Integration and Gender Equality in Sweden and Director Marianne Laxén has been responsible for its compilation. An expert group of researchers has contributed to the analysis: Maria Eriksson, Department of Sociology at Uppsala University, Lenita Freidenvall, Department of Political Science at Stockholm University, Annica Kronsell, Department of Political Science at Lund University, Anita Nyberg, Centre for Gender Studies at Stockholm University, Malin Rönnblom, Department of Gender Studies at Umeå University and Barbro Wijma, Division of Gender and Medicine at Linköping University. Lenita Freidenvall, Stockholm University has been the co-ordinator of the research group.

The aim of this dissertation is to analyse women's political representation in the Swedish parliament 1970-2002, a period during which the share of women parliamentarians increased from 14 to 45 percent, and to assess changes in party rules and party norms in terms of regulative and discursive continuity and change. Inspired by Carol Lee Bacchi's "What's the Problem? Approach," with its focus on the construction of political problems rather than "the problem" as such, this dissertation studies how Swedish political parties have formulated the problem of women's exclusion from parliamentary politics, what causes of women's under representation they have identified and what solutions they have proposed. The dissertation also studies how party rules to increase the number of women have been implemented in the 2002 nomination process. The dissertation is based on party documents from the period 1970-2002, a national survey to all nomination committees in the parliamentary election in 2002 and 70 interviews with nomination committee members for three political parties in two electoral constituencies. The analysis shows how both party rules and party norms regarding women's political representation have changed over time. The analysis also shows that the framing of women's representation changed over time: from an optimistic view of historical development, gender equality as 'equal opportunity' and harmony between the sexes to a critical view on historical development and gender equality as 'equality of results'. The analysis of the nomination process shows that gender is still a key issue in the composition of party lists but that the number of women on party lists in some parties is dependent on women gatekeepers on the nomination committees. It also shows that the ordering of the list is highly dependent on the candidate list from the previous election and that this order of succession also covers non-winnable seats.

Chapter 1: Introduction: A historical and institutional perspective on women's political inclusion -- Chapter 2: Resisting democratisation: Arguments against female enfranchisement among members of the Swedish Parliament 1866–1918 -- Chapter 3: Struggles, resources and strategies: Portraits of six Swedish women suffrage activists -- Chapter 4: Intersectionality, identity and women's suffrage -- Chapter 5: Why were so few women elected? Political party strategies in Denmark and Sweden during the first parliamentary election after women's enfranchisement -- Chapter 6: Women's movements local election campaigns in Norway -- Chapter 7: Practising the right to vote: Female Voters and Male Inertia in Iceland, 1915–1944 -- Chapter 8: Her rights at work – women in parliament -- Chapter 9: Still signs of masculine norms in the parliamentary workplace? Political gender equality in Finland and Sweden after a century of universal suffrage -- Chapter 10: Critical culture: The role of institutional norms in gender sensitising parliaments -- Chapter 11: Conclusions: Theorising gendered institutional constraints and feminist strategies for institutional change.

This article examines the construction of hegemonic masculinity in Greek political discourse, by analysing minutes from the Greek Parliament at the height of the economic crisis in 2010-2012. Based on Connell´s concept of hegemonic masculinity and the application of a discursive approach inspired by Laclau and Mouffe ([1985]. Hegemony and socialist strategy: Towards a radical democratic politics. London: Verso), the article asks: (1) which discourses constituted the rhetoric of Greek elite politicians regarding economic policies during the crisis and (2) which hegemonic concepts of masculinity and femininity did Greek elite politicians elaborate upon and discursively position themselves in. It also reflects on the implications of the gendered speeches of these elite politicians. The article shows how the rhetoric of elite politicians includes different identities normatively related to manhood. The article argues that the construction of these gender dominant gender representations in the political discourse has severe implications in terms of functioning as a means of justification of austerity measures in Greek economy with negative consequences for politics and society. It is also argued that by adopting elements of hegemonic masculinity, Greek elite politicians contribute to creating an image of a powerful man to whom citizens should adhere, hence reproducing the male (white and heterosexual) norm.

This article addresses the establishment of gender-equality norms in a case often presented as one of the most gender-equal legislatures in the world, namely, the Swedish Parliament (Riksdagen). Based on a series of in-depth interviews between 2005 and 2016 with 90 legislators in the Swedish Parliament, we ask whether there is agreement over gender-equality problems in Parliament that cut across gender and party affiliation, and whether there is convergence over time in this regard. Our findings show that there is a trend of convergence of the gender-inequality framings over time, which indicates the establishment of a shared legislative gender-equality norm. We suggest that a legislative gender-equality norm might work as a catalyst for progressive and continuous work in this area.

A recent wave of research has engaged with gender-focused bodies within parliament studying their status, organization, and function. One type of body scarcely studied is issue-based parliamentary groups such as the Speaker's Gender Equality Group in the Swedish Parliament. This article focuses on the form and function of this body, as well as its potentials and pitfalls. On the basis of secondary sources, two waves of interviews with men parliamentarians (MPs) and inside observations the Speaker's gender equality group is analyzed from the 1990s until today. We conclude that despite lacking formal legislative power, this body has a key symbolic and informal role, manifested in the political will and engaged leadership to ensure that equal working conditions for women and men MPs are promoted. We also find constraints in terms of the limited and general (rather than expert) administrative support as well as the need for consistent authorization.