Transnational perspectives on Nordic gender equality and welfare (GEN530)

The purpose of this course is to introduce students to an interdisciplinary field of scholarship, which seeks to understand the emergence, proliferation and spread of a specifically Nordic model of gender equality and welfare. After tracing the establishment of the paradigm of "gender equality" in a Nordic social-democratic welfare context, the course discusses contemporary issues, such as work-life balance, intersectional understandings of gender and inequality, global chains of care, and various approaches to prosperity, justice and sustainability. Alongside the Nordic focus, the course actively incorporates transnational perspectives on the topics covered. A principal aim of the course is to introduce students to a body of critical scholarship on dominant Nordic gender equality and welfare discourses, and their transnational connections, as well as to questions of inequality, power, and environmental challenges.

Knowledge:

• Knowledge about key theoretical and policy frameworks for understanding gender equality and welfare perspectives in the Nordic countries, as well as their transnational perspectives
• Knowledge about similarities and differences between the Nordic countries and variations based on intersectional approaches to equality
• Knowledge about critical transnational approaches to the dominant Nordic equality and welfare model
• Knowledge about key concepts in the field and their differences, such as intersectionality, equality, equity, justice and prosperity

Skills:

• Analyse and critically discuss characteristics of Nordic gender equality and how they relate to the Nordic welfare-state model in scholarship and policy
• Analyse and critically asses a variety of challenges to gender equality and diversity
• Analyse how Nordic models of gender equality and welfare have been developed and implemented in the Nordic countries, and how these policies have been received on a global scale
• Analyse and critically discuss Nordic approaches to gender equality and welfare in a comparative context

Competences:

• Ability to demonstrate a deep understanding  of Nordic gender equality from a comparative perspective
• Ability to apply critical perspectives to dominant understandings of Nordic gender equality and welfare, including the ways in which they challenge an emergent alternative framework for global prosperity, justice and wellbeing
• Ability to apply critical perspectives  and reflect on gender equality and diversity in various professional and educational situations

Completed bachelor degree

Mid-term essay, Group presentation

Two compulsory, written assignments must be submitted individually. This assignment will be given a pass/fail grade. Failure to pass this compulsory assignment will disqualify the student from taking the final exam. 

Course teacher(s)

Course coordinator:

Maja Brandt Andreasen

The course consists of weekly sessions. These sessions will include lectures, seminars, group work and individual work - adapted to different modes of study. All students are expected to read the syllabus and participate in group discussions and thereby develop analytic reflections in a productive environment with fellow students. This will be done on and off campus, and the course coordinator will facilitate a digital learning platform (Canvas). The working language for this course is English.

All students on a master's programme at the University of Stavanger.

Exchange students.

Student evaluation will be carried out in accordance with the evaluation system at the Faculty of Social Sciencs

Course book1. Giritli Nygren K, Griffin G, Martinsson L, red. Challenging the myth of gender equality in Sweden. Policy Press; 2016.2. Linander I, Erika Alm, Anne Hammarstrom, Lisa Harryson. Negotiating the (bio)medical gaze: Experiences of trans-specific healthcare in Sweden. Social Science & Medicine. 2017;174:9–16. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.11.0303. Perkins P. Climate justice, commons, and degrowth. Ecological Economics. 160(June):183–190. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2019.02.0054. Eikjok J. Gender in Sápmi. Socio-cultural transformations and new challenges. Indigenous Affairs. 2000;3:52–57.Week 3 (2 Sept.)5. Al-Ali N. Covid-19 and feminism in the Global South: Challenges, initiatives and dilemmas. The European journal of women’s studies. Published online 2020:135050682094361–. doi:10.1177/1350506820943617Week 4 (9 Sept.)6. Teigen M. The Nordic gender equality model. I: Knutsen O, red. The Nordic models in political science : challenged, but still viable? Fagbokforl; 2017:125–147.7. Hernes H. Introduction. I: Welfare state and woman power: Essays in state feminism. Norwegian University Press; 1987:9–29.8. Einarsdóttir ÞJ. All that Glitters is Not Gold: Shrinking and Bending Gender Equality in Rankings and Nation Branding. NORA - Nordic Journal of Feminist and Gender Research. Published online vinter 1620. doi:10.1080/08038740.2020.17458849. Widerberg K. Gender and society. I: Andersen H, Kaspersen LB, red. Classical and modern social theory. Blackwell; 2000:XI, 524 s.10. World Economic Forum. The global gender gap report 2020. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GGGR_2020.pdfWeek 5 (16 Sept.)11. Borchorst A, Siim B. The women-friendly welfare states revisited. NORA - Nordic Journal of Feminist and Gender Research. 2002;10(2):90–98. doi:10.1080/08038740276026218612. Jacobsen CM. The (in)egalitarian dynamics of gender equality and homotolerance in contemporary Norway. I: Bendixsen S, Bringslid MB, Vike H, red. Egalitarianism in Scandinavia [electronic resource] : Historical and Contemporary Perspectives /. 1st ed. 2018. Springer International Publishing : 2018:313–336.13. Bacchi C, Eveline J. Gender Mainstreaming or Diversity Mainstreaming? The Politics of «Doing». NORA - Nordic Journal of Feminist and Gender Research. 2009;17(1):2–17. doi:10.1080/08038740802689133Week 6 (23 Sept.)14. Borchorst A, Lenita Freidenvall et.al. Institutionalizing intersectionality in the Nordic countries: Anti-discrimination and equality in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. I: Squires J, Skjeie H, Krizsan A, red. Institutionalizing Intersectionality [electronic resource] : The Changing Nature of European Equality Regimes . 1st ed. 2012. Imprint Palgrave Macmillan; Palgrave Macmillan UK 2012:1 online resource (255 p.). doi:10.1057/978113703106815. Keskinen S. From welfare nationalism to welfare chauvinism: Economic rhetoric, the welfare state and changing asylum policies in Finland. Critical Social Policy. 2016;36(3):352–370. doi:10.1177/026101831562417016. de Los Reyes P. Working life inequalities: do we need intersectionality? Society, Health & Vulnerability. 2017;8(sup1):14–18. doi:10.1080/20021518.2017.133285817. Tlostanova M, Thapar-Björkert S, Knobblock I. Do We Need Decolonial Feminism in Sweden? NORA - Nordic Journal of Feminist and Gender Research. 2019;27(4):290–295. doi:10.1080/08038740.2019.164155218. Gullestad M. Invisible Fences: Egalitarianism, Nationalism and Racism. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute. 2002;8(1):45–63. doi:10.1111/1467-9655.0009819. Gracia E, Merlo J. Intimate partner violence against women and the Nordic paradox. Social Science & Medicine. 2016;157:27–30. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.03.04020. Kuokkanen R. Gendered Violence and Politics in Indigenous Communities: THE CASES OF ABORIGINAL PEOPLE IN CANADA AND THE SÁMI IN SCANDINAVIA. International Feminist Journal of Politics. 2015;17(2):271–288. doi:10.1080/14616742.2014.901816Week 7 (30 Sept.)21. Hi‘ilei Julia Kawehipuaakahaopulani Hobart, Tamara Kneese. Radical Care: Survival Strategies for Uncertain Times. Social Text. (38 1). doi:10.1215/01642472-7971067Week 9 (14 Oct.)22. Paternotte D, Kuhar R. Disentangling and Locating the “Global Right”: Anti-Gender Campaigns in Europe. Certomà C, Bulkeley H, Heijden J van der, red. Politics and Governance. 2018;6(3):6–19. doi:10.17645/pag.v6i3.155723. Alm E and ELE. Gender self-identification in a time of anti-gender politics. lambda nordica. Published online 2020.24. Gunnarsson Payne J. Challenging «Gender Ideology»: (Anti-)Gender Politics in Europe’s Populist Moment. New Pretender. Published online 2019. http://new-pretender.com/2019/02/10/challenging-gender-ideology-anti-gender-politics-in-europes-populist-moment-jenny-gunnarsson-payne/Week 10 (Oct 21)25. Hartline FR. Examining Trans Narratives in the Wake of Norway’s Gender Recognition Law. a/b: Auto/Biography Studies: Trans Narratives. 2019;34(1):67–87. doi:10.1080/08989575.2019.154282226. Boellstorff T, Mauro Cabral et.al. Decolonizing transgender: A Roundtable Discussion. TSQ. Published online 2014. doi:10.1215/23289252-2685669Week 11 (Oct 28)27. Detraz N, Peksen D. In the Aftermath of Earth, Wind, and Fire: Natural Disasters and Respect for Women’s Rights. Human Rights Review. 2017;18(2):151–170. doi:10.1007/s12142-016-0440-428. Feminisms and Degrowth Alliance (FaDA). Feminist degrowth reflections on COVID-19 and the politics of social reproduction. Published vinter 2020. https://www.degrowth.info/en/2020/04/feminist-degrowth-collaborative-fada-reflections-on-the-covid-19-pandemic-and-the-politics-of-social-reproduction/29. Why gender equality matters across all SDGs: An excerpt of Turning Promises into Action: Gender Equality in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.Week 12 (Nov. 4)30. Nixon R. Slow violence, gender, and the environmentalism of the poor. I: Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor . Harvard University Press 2011:128–149. doi:10.4159/harvard.978067406119431. Frangoudes K, Gerrard S. (En)Gendering Change in Small-Scale Fisheries and Fishing Communities in a Globalized World. Maritime studies. 2018;17(2):117–124. doi:10.1007/s40152-018-0113-932. Buckingham S, Kulcur R. Gendered Geographies of Environmental Injustice. Antipode. 2009;41(4):659–683. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8330.2009.00693.x

The course description is retrieved from FS (Felles studentsystem). Version 1