"Som feminist måste man vara pedagogisk" : en diskursanalys av samtal om jämställdhetsarbete

by Djäken, Katarina

This study aims at examining the order of discourse (diskursordning) of gender equality (jämställdhet) in a modern swedish context, focusing conflicts between different discourses within it. The method used is discourseanalysis of material from three focus group interviews. These were conducted with women who have experinces of working with gender equality in parlamentary politics, universities and the corporate sphere. The premise is that discourses can be defined as relatively stable systems of meaning, created through the struggle between different actors having interests in formulating the discourses. Based on previous research two actors seem to be significant: the welfare state and the womens movement. Analyzing the material two discourses become visible, partly relating to these actors. These can be namned the discourse of conflict and the discourse of consensus. The results show that gender equality-workers (jämställdhetsarbetare) combine the two. Their engagement in feminist issues can be interpreted in terms of the discourse of conflict while their work is framed by the discourse of consensus. They use the latter as a strategic resource doing work of gender equality (jämställdhetsarbetet), while at the same time repositioning the discourse of conflict through their work. Thereby the question arises if the institutionalised work of gender equality constitutes a third actor, namely the workers of gender equality, that will affect the order of discourses of gender equality. key words: gender equality, gender equality-work, feminism, womens movement, discourseanalysis, focus group interviews