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Syllabus:

Critical Perspectives on Nordic Gender Equalities, 15 Credits

Swedish name: Critical Perspectives on Nordic Gender Equalities

This syllabus is valid: 2012-08-20 valid to 2013-09-29 (newer version of the syllabus exists)

Course code: 2KC009

Credit points: 15

Education level: Second cycle

Main Field of Study and progress level: Gender Studies: Second cycle, has only first-cycle course/s as entry requirements
Law: Second cycle, has only first-cycle course/s as entry requirements

Grading scale: Pass with distinction, Pass, Fail

Responsible department: Umeå Centre for Gender Studies (UCGS)

Contents

This course deals with gender equality as political ideal and practice in the Nordic region. Taking a historical departure the course will address questions such as: How and when was the issue of gender equality put on the political agenda in the Nordic countries? How is gender equality understood and practised today? Are Nordic countries still to be conceived as egalitarian? Drawing on various research fields such as post-structuralist feminist theory, postcolonial theory as well as critical perspectives on violence, class and sexuality the course will explore the ideal of gender equality from different angles. Special emphasis is put on examining the ways in which present day Nordic societies in general and gender equality in particular are marked by processes of postcoloniality, heteronormativity and neoliberalism. This is a cross-disciplinary course and will be able to enrich and complement courses in many different programmes. The course is organized around active student participation and consists of lectures, seminars and written examinations. The course is taught in English.

Expected learning outcomes

Module 1: Gender and Politics in the Nordic countries (7,5 ECTS)

After the course the student shall be able to

- describe the history of Nordic politics of gender equality as well as be able independently identify and compare central divisions in Nordic feminist research on gender equality and politics.

- orally and in writing present an independent and critical analysis of different conceptualisations of gender equality.

Module 2: Critical Perspectives on Nordic Gender Equality (7,5 ECTS)

After the course the student shall be able to

- describe and independently compare the different feminist analytical positions presented during the module.

- orally and in writing present an independent and critical analysis of Nordic gender equality related to processes of heteronormativity, colonialism, class and neo-liberalism.

Added to this, the student should be able to contribute to qualified analytical comments at seminars and lead discussions.

Required Knowledge

To be admitted to the course applicants must have completed three semesters of full time studies, equivalent to 90 ECTS, of which at least 15 ECTS must be an independent project or four semesters of full time studies equivalent to 120 ECTS. English proficiency equivalent to English B from Swedish Upper secondary education. (IELTS (Academic) with minimum score 6.5 and no individual score below 5.5. TOEFL (Paper based with minimum score 575 and minimum TWE 4.5). TOEFL (Internet based with minimum score 90 and minimum Written 20).

Form of instruction

Teaching is conducted through lectures and seminars. Major part of the scheduled lectures and seminars are compulsory, and students who are unable to participate may be given extra examination tasks. Emphasis is placed on students’ independent work.

Examination modes

The course will be examined gradually through active participation in seminars, and through individual oral, and written examination. The examination of module 1 consists of two written assignments. The examination of module 2 consists of one written assignment in which at least three of the themes; class, neoliberalism, heteronormativity and colonialism are discussed in relation to gender equality. For both modules and the course as a whole, the following grades are given: Fail (U), Pass (G) and Pass with distinction (VG). In order to be awarded Pass for the entire course, it is necessary that all examinations and all compulsory teaching sessions have been passed. In order to achieve Pass with distinction on the whole course, this grade is demanded on module two and at least on one of the written assignments on module one.

A re-sit examination can be offered at the earliest ten days and at the latest three months after publishing information about the first examination. One more examination will be offered within the next year. A student who has passed the examination is not eligible for a new examination to raise grades. The option of a re-examination based on the original course syllabus will be available for at least two years after a student registered for the course. All in all, a student is given five chances of fulfilling the course examination. A student has the right to change examiner after failing two examinations for a course module, unless there are strong arguments against this. Course diplomas will be issued within 60 days after a passed examination.

Academic credit transfer

This course cannot be credited for other courses in gender studies at Umeå University. A course with the same name (7,5 ECTS), given during Autumn 2006, can be given credits for in this course corresponding to 7,5 ECTS. For further information we recommend contact with the director of studies.

Literature

  • Valid from: 2013 week 34

    Approaches to gender mainstreaming: What's the problem represented to be?
    Bacchi Carol, Eveline Joan
    Included in:
    Mainstreaming politics
    Adelaide, S. Aust. : University of Adelaide Press : c2010. : xviii, 368 p. :
    Mandatory

    Borchorst Anette
    Women-friendly policy paradoxes? Childcare policies and gender equality visions in Scandinavia
    Included in:
    Gender equality and welfare politics in Scandinavia
    Bristol : Policy : 2008 : xi, 244 s. :
    Mandatory

    Brown Wendy
    Postmodern Exposures, Feminist Hesitations.
    Included in:
    States of injury
    Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press : 1995 : xiii, 202 s. : pages 30-51. (21 pages) :
    Mandatory

    Brown Wendy
    Suffering Rights as Paradoxes.
    Included in:
    Constellations
    Oxford : Blackwell Publishers : 1997- : Vol 7 : pages 230-241. (11 pages) :
    Mandatory

    Burman Monica
    Immigrant Women Facing Male Partner Violence : Gender, Race and Power in Swedish Alien and Criminal Law
    Included in:
    feminists@law
    Canterbury : University of Kent : 2 :
    Mandatory

    Women's questions on the agenda. The politicization of gender equality in Sweden.
    Florin Christina, Nilsson Bengt
    Included in:
    Different paths to modernity
    Lund : Nordic Academic Press : 2005 : 368 s. : pages (16 pages) :
    Mandatory

    Report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, Yakin Ertürk. Addendum. Mission to Sweden.
    General Assembly, A/HRC/4/34/Add.3. : 2007 :
    Mandatory

    Action plan to combat men's violence against women, violence and oppression in the name of honour and violence in same-sex relations.
    Government Communication 2007/08:39. : 2007 :
    Mandatory

    Honkanen Kattis
    Equality politics out of the subaltern
    Included in:
    Critical studies of gender equalities
    Göteborg ;a Stockholm : Makadam : 2008 : 223 s. :
    Mandatory

    Gender and the state.
    Kantola Johanna, Dahl Hanne Marlene
    Included in:
    International feminist journal of politics.
    London : Routledge : 1999- : 7:1 : pages 49-70. (21 pages) :
    Mandatory

    Langvasbråten Trude
    A Scandinavian Model? Gender Equality Discourses on Multiculturalism.
    Included in:
    Social politics
    Champaign, Ill. : Published by the University of Illinois Press in cooperation with the Swedish Council for Social Research : 1994- : 15 (1) : pages 32-52. (20 pages) :
    Mandatory

    Discursive Dynamics in Gender Equality Politics: What about ‘Feminist Taboos’?
    Lombardo Emanuela, Meier Petra, Verloo Mieke
    Included in:
    The European journal of women's studies
    London : Sage : 1999- : 17 : pages 105-123 :
    Mandatory

    McCarry Melanie
    Masculinity studies and male violence: Critique or collusion?
    Included in:
    Women's studies international forum
    Oxford : Pergamon P. : 1982- : 30 : pages 404-415 :
    Mandatory

    A Nordic Model of Gender Equality
    Melby Kari, Ravn Anna-Birte, Carlsson Wetterberg Christina
    Included in:
    Gender equality and welfare politics in Scandinavia
    Bristol : Policy : 2008 : xi, 244 s. : pages 1-26 :
    Mandatory

    Action Plan against Domestic Violence 2012
    Norwegian Ministry of Justice and Public Security. : 2012 :
    http://www.regjeringen.no/pages/36783932/ActionPlan_DomesticViolence.pdf
    Mandatory

    Trouble in Paradise: Exploring Patterns of Research and Policy Response to Men's Violence in Denmark and Sweden
    Pringle Keith, Balkmar Dag, Iovanni LeeAnn
    Included in:
    Nora
    London : Taylor & Francis : 1998- : 18 : pages 105-121 :
    Mandatory

    Intersectionality in practice?
    Skjeie Hege, Langvasbråten Trude
    Included in:
    International feminist journal of politics.
    London : Routledge : 1999- : 11:4 : pages 513-529. (26 pages) :
    Mandatory

    Abu Lughod Lila
    Do Muslim Women really need saving? Antropological reflections on Cultural Relativism and its Others.
    Included in:
    American anthropologist
    Washington N.W., D.C. : American Anthropological Assoc. : 1888- : Vol. 1 (1888)-11 (1898) ; N.S., 1 (1899)- : Vol 104. Issue 3. : pages 783-790. (6 pages) :
    Mandatory

    Mainstreaming and neoliberalism: a contested relationship.
    Bacchi Carol, Eveline Joan
    Included in:
    Mainstreaming politics
    Adelaide, S. Aust. : University of Adelaide Press : c2010. : xviii, 368 p. :
    Mandatory

    Carbin Maria
    Honour related violence. The invention of a Policy problem in Sweden.
    Included in:
    Critical studies of gender equalities
    Göteborg ;a Stockholm : Makadam : 2008 : 223 s. : pages 24-47. (23 pages) :
    Mandatory

    Gavanas Anna
    Who cleans the welfare state? : migration, informalization, social exclusion and domestic services in Stockholm
    Stockholm : Institute for Futures Studies : 2010 : 94 s. :
    Fulltext
    ISBN: 978-91-978537-5-0
    Mandatory
    Search the University Library catalogue

    Keskinen Suvi
    Honour related violence and Nordic nation-building.
    Included in:
    Complying with colonialism
    Aldershot : Ashgate : 2009 : 276 s. : pages 257-272. (15 pages) :
    Mandatory

    Lister Ruth
    Gendering citizenship in Western Europe : new challenges for citizenship research in a cross-national context
    Bristol : Policy : 2007 : 210 s. :
    ISBN: 1-86134-693-X (pbk.)
    Mandatory
    Search the University Library catalogue

    Magnusson Eva
    Conflict, danger and Difference. Nordic heterosexual couples converse about gender equality and fairness.
    Included in:
    Critical studies of gender equalities
    Göteborg ;a Stockholm : Makadam : 2008 : 223 s. : pages 161-179. (17 pages) :
    Mandatory

    Women-friendly policy paradoxes? : Childcare policies and gender equality visions in Scandinavia
    Melby Kari, Borchorst Anette
    Included in:
    Gender equality and welfare politics in Scandinavia
    Bristol : Policy : 2008 : xi, 244 s. :
    Mandatory

    Raevaara Eeva
    In the land of equality?
    Included in:
    Critical studies of gender equalities
    Göteborg ;a Stockholm : Makadam : 2008 : 223 s. :
    Mandatory

    Rönnblom Malin
    De-politicising gender? : constructions of gender equality in Swedish regional policy
    Included in:
    Critical studies of gender equalities
    Göteborg ;a Stockholm : Makadam : 2008 : 223 s. :
    Mandatory

    Political constructions of gender equality : travelling towards ... a gender balanced society?
    Skjeie Hege, Teigen Mari
    Included in:
    Nora
    London : Taylor & Francis : 1998- :
    Mandatory

    Management and gender diversity : intertwining categories and paradoxes
    Staunæs Dorthe, Søndergaard Dorte Marie
    Included in:
    Critical studies of gender equalities
    Göteborg ;a Stockholm : Makadam : 2008 : 223 s. :
    Mandatory

    Stenum Helle
    Au-pair migration and new inequalities: the transnational production of corruption.
    Included in:
    Global care work
    Lund : Nordic Academic Press : 2010 : 240 s. : pages 23-48. (25 pages) :
    Mandatory

    Stormhoj Christel
    Queering the family. Critical reflections on state regulated heteronormativity in the Scandinavian countries.
    Included in:
    Lambda nordica
    Stockholm : Föreningen Lambda nordica : 1989- : 3-4 (8) : pages 38-56. (18 pages) :
    Mandatory

    Towns Ann
    Paradoxes of (In)equality "Something is rotten in the gender equal state of Sweden".
    Included in:
    Cooperation and conflict
    Johanneshov : Scandinavian University Books : 1965- : June, Vol 37 Issue 2 : pages 157-180. (23 pages) :
    Mandatory

    Törnqvist Maria
    From threat to promise. The changing position of gender quota in the Swedish debate on Women's Political representations.
    Included in:
    Critical studies of gender equalities
    Göteborg ;a Stockholm : Makadam : 2008 : 223 s. : pages 75-93. (18 pages) :
    Mandatory

    Vuorela Ulla
    Colonial complicity: The 'postcolonial' in a Nordic context.
    Included in:
    Complying with colonialism
    Aldershot : Ashgate : 2009 : 276 s. : pages 19-34. (15 pages) :
    Mandatory

    Vuori Jaana
    Guiding migrants in the realm of Gender Equality.
    Included in:
    Complying with colonialism
    Aldershot : Ashgate : 2009 : 276 s. : pages 207-225. (18 pages) :
    Mandatory

    Widding Isaksen Lise
    Introducing: global care work in Nordic societies.
    Included in:
    Global care work
    Lund : Nordic Academic Press : 2010 : 240 s. : pages 9-19. (10 pages) :
    Mandatory

  • Valid from: 2012 week 34

    Approaches to gender mainstreaming: What's the problem represented to be?
    Bacchi Carol, Eveline Joan
    Included in:
    Mainstreaming politics
    Adelaide, S. Aust. : University of Adelaide Press : c2010. : xviii, 368 p. :
    Mandatory

    Borchorst Anette
    Women-friendly policy paradoxes? Childcare policies and gender equality visions in Scandinavia
    Included in:
    Gender equality and welfare politics in Scandinavia
    Bristol : Policy : 2008 : xi, 244 s. :
    Mandatory

    Brown Wendy
    Postmodern Exposures, Feminist Hesitations.
    Included in:
    States of injury
    Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press : 1995 : xiii, 202 s. : pages 30-51. (21 pages) :
    Mandatory

    Brown Wendy
    Suffering Rights as Paradoxes.
    Included in:
    Constellations
    Oxford : Blackwell Publishers : 1997- : Vol 7 : pages 230-241. (11 pages) :
    Mandatory

    Burman Monica
    The Ability of Criminal Law to Produce Gender Equality: Juridical Discourses in the Swedish Criminal Legal System.
    Included in:
    Violence against women
    Thousand Oaks, Ca : Sage : 1999- : 16 : pages 173-188. (15 pages) :
    Mandatory

    Women's questions on the agenda. The politicization of gender equality in Sweden.
    Florin Christina, Nilsson Bengt
    Included in:
    Different paths to modernity
    Lund : Nordic Academic Press : 2005 : 368 s. : pages (16 pages) :
    Mandatory

    Report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, Yakin Ertürk. Addendum. Mission to Sweden.
    General Assembly, A/HRC/4/34/Add.3. : 2007 :
    Mandatory

    Action plan to combat men's violence against women, violence and oppression in the name of honour and violence in same-sex relations.
    Government Communication 2007/08:39. : 2007 :
    Mandatory

    Honkanen Kattis
    Equality politics out of the subaltern
    Included in:
    Critical studies of gender equalities
    Göteborg ;a Stockholm : Makadam : 2008 : 223 s. :
    Mandatory

    Gender and the state.
    Kantola Johanna, Dahl Hanne Marlene
    Included in:
    International feminist journal of politics.
    London : Routledge : 1999- : 7:1 : pages 49-70. (21 pages) :
    Mandatory

    Langvasbråten Trude
    A Scandinavian Model? Gender Equality Discourses on Multiculturalism.
    Included in:
    Social politics
    Champaign, Ill. : Published by the University of Illinois Press in cooperation with the Swedish Council for Social Research : 1994- : 15 (1) : pages 32-52. (20 pages) :
    Mandatory

    Introduction. Critical Studies of Equalities: Nordic dislocations, dilemmas and contradictions.
    Magnusson Eva, Rönnblom Malin, Silius Harriet
    Included in:
    Critical studies of gender equalities
    Göteborg ;a Stockholm : Makadam : 2008 : 223 s. : pages 7-23. (16 pages) :
    Mandatory

    McCarry Melanie
    Masculinity studies and male violence: Critique or collusion?
    Included in:
    Women's studies international forum
    Oxford : Pergamon P. : 1982- : 30 : pages 404-415 :
    Mandatory

    A Nordic Model of Gender Equality
    Melby Kari, Ravn Anna-Birte, Carlsson Wetterberg Christina
    Included in:
    Gender equality and welfare politics in Scandinavia
    Bristol : Policy : 2008 : xi, 244 s. : pages 1-26 :
    Mandatory

    Trouble in Paradise: Exploring Patterns of Research and Policy Response to Men's Violence in Denmark and Sweden
    Pringle Keith, Balkmar Dag, Iovanni LeeAnn
    Included in:
    Nora
    London : Taylor & Francis : 1998- : 18 : pages 105-121 :
    Mandatory

    Intersectionality in practice?
    Skjeie Hege, Langvasbråten Trude
    Included in:
    International feminist journal of politics.
    London : Routledge : 1999- : 11:4 : pages 513-529. (26 pages) :
    Mandatory

    Abu Lughod Lila
    Do Muslim Women really need saving? Antropological reflections on Cultural Relativism and its Others.
    Included in:
    American anthropologist
    Washington N.W., D.C. : American Anthropological Assoc. : 1888- : Vol. 1 (1888)-11 (1898) ; N.S., 1 (1899)- : Vol 104. Issue 3. : pages 783-790. (6 pages) :
    Mandatory

    Mainstreaming and neoliberalism: a contested relationship.
    Bacchi Carol, Eveline Joan
    Included in:
    Mainstreaming politics
    Adelaide, S. Aust. : University of Adelaide Press : c2010. : xviii, 368 p. :
    Mandatory

    Carbin Maria
    Honour related violence. The invention of a Policy problem in Sweden.
    Included in:
    Critical studies of gender equalities
    Göteborg ;a Stockholm : Makadam : 2008 : 223 s. : pages 24-47. (23 pages) :
    Mandatory

    Gavanas Anna
    Who cleans the welfare state? : migration, informalization, social exclusion and domestic services in Stockholm
    Stockholm : Institute for Futures Studies : 2010 : 94 s. :
    Fulltext
    ISBN: 978-91-978537-5-0
    Mandatory
    Search the University Library catalogue

    Keskinen Suvi
    Honour related violence and Nordic nation-building.
    Included in:
    Complying with colonialism
    Aldershot : Ashgate : 2009 : 276 s. : pages 257-272. (15 pages) :
    Mandatory

    Lister Ruth
    Gendering citizenship in Western Europe : new challenges for citizenship research in a cross-national context
    Bristol : Policy : 2007 : 210 s. :
    ISBN: 1-86134-693-X (pbk.)
    Mandatory
    Search the University Library catalogue

    Magnusson Eva
    Conflict, danger and Difference. Nordic heterosexual couples converse about gender equality and fairness.
    Included in:
    Critical studies of gender equalities
    Göteborg ;a Stockholm : Makadam : 2008 : 223 s. : pages 161-179. (17 pages) :
    Mandatory

    Women-friendly policy paradoxes? : Childcare policies and gender equality visions in Scandinavia
    Melby Kari, Borchorst Anette
    Included in:
    Gender equality and welfare politics in Scandinavia
    Bristol : Policy : 2008 : xi, 244 s. :
    Mandatory

    Raevaara Eeva
    In the land of equality?
    Included in:
    Critical studies of gender equalities
    Göteborg ;a Stockholm : Makadam : 2008 : 223 s. :
    Mandatory

    Rönnblom Malin
    De-politicising gender? : constructions of gender equality in Swedish regional policy
    Included in:
    Critical studies of gender equalities
    Göteborg ;a Stockholm : Makadam : 2008 : 223 s. :
    Mandatory

    Political constructions of gender equality : travelling towards ... a gender balanced society?
    Skjeie Hege, Teigen Mari
    Included in:
    Nora
    London : Taylor & Francis : 1998- :
    Mandatory

    Management and gender diversity : intertwining categories and paradoxes
    Staunæs Dorthe, Søndergaard Dorte Marie
    Included in:
    Critical studies of gender equalities
    Göteborg ;a Stockholm : Makadam : 2008 : 223 s. :
    Mandatory

    Stenum Helle
    Au-pair migration and new inequalities: the transnational production of corruption.
    Included in:
    Global care work
    Lund : Nordic Academic Press : 2010 : 240 s. : pages 23-48. (25 pages) :
    Mandatory

    Stormhoj Christel
    Queering the family. Critical reflections on state regulated heteronormativity in the Scandinavian countries.
    Included in:
    Lambda nordica
    Stockholm : Föreningen Lambda nordica : 1989- : 3-4 (8) : pages 38-56. (18 pages) :
    Mandatory

    Towns Ann
    Paradoxes of (In)equality "Something is rotten in the gender equal state of Sweden".
    Included in:
    Cooperation and conflict
    Johanneshov : Scandinavian University Books : 1965- : June, Vol 37 Issue 2 : pages 157-180. (23 pages) :
    Mandatory

    Törnqvist Maria
    From threat to promise. The changing position of gender quota in the Swedish debate on Women's Political representations.
    Included in:
    Critical studies of gender equalities
    Göteborg ;a Stockholm : Makadam : 2008 : 223 s. : pages 75-93. (18 pages) :
    Mandatory

    Vuorela Ulla
    Colonial complicity: The 'postcolonial' in a Nordic context.
    Included in:
    Complying with colonialism
    Aldershot : Ashgate : 2009 : 276 s. : pages 19-34. (15 pages) :
    Mandatory

    Vuori Jaana
    Guiding migrants in the realm of Gender Equality.
    Included in:
    Complying with colonialism
    Aldershot : Ashgate : 2009 : 276 s. : pages 207-225. (18 pages) :
    Mandatory

    Widding Isaksen Lise
    Introducing: global care work in Nordic societies.
    Included in:
    Global care work
    Lund : Nordic Academic Press : 2010 : 240 s. : pages 9-19. (10 pages) :
    Mandatory