Equality in policy and practice, 7.5 credits
Contents
The course deals with gender equality as political ideal and practice and will address questions such as: How has neoliberal ideals affected the discourse on gender equality? What knowledge production and practices are reproduced in this discourse? With what means can we discern and analyse this discourse? The course will also explore the ideal of gender equality from different perspectives and specific emphasis is on examining the ways in which present day societies in general and gender equality in particular are marked 1by processes of colonialism, heteronormativity and neoliberalism, using a What is the Problem Represented to be-approach (WPR). The course is organized around active student participation and consists of lectures, written assignments, oral presentations, and examination. The course is taught and examined in English.
The course is divided into three broad themes: 1) The development of the welfare state and its implications for gender equality, 2) Heteronormativity, sexuality, and gender equality, 3) Gender equality in policy and practice.
Expected learning outcomes
Having completed the course, the students are expected to have the ability to:
Knowledge and understanding
- understand and explain how a neoliberal governance mindset affects gender equality policy,
- understand and explain the relationship between gender and sexuality in a Western context,
- understand and explain how gender equality can be conceptualized and imbued with different political meanings from a poststructuralist perspective.
Skills and Abilities
- describe and relate to relevant aspects that may influence gender equality policy, and discuss key perspectives, dividing lines, and concepts in critical research on gender equality.
Judgement and approach
- be able to present, both orally and in writing, independent analyses of gender equality policies,
- independently apply relevant theories to empirical or theoretical problems related to gender equality.
Required Knowledge
Proficiency in English equivalent to the level required for basic eligibility for higher studies.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.
Proficiency in English equivalent to the Swedish upper secondary course English 6/level 2.
Form of instruction
The course is a full-time on-line course in English. The course is taught entirely through an electronic Learning Management System where the student takes part in lectures, mandatory assignments and other learning activities. The studies are characterized by a high degree of independent and active search for knowledge, as well as critical reflection, both individually and in groups.
The course is focused on active learning, i.e., students will practice the ability to reflect on both their own and others’ knowledge production. Different strategies for teaching and learning will be used, such as lectures, group discussions, and various forms of individual and group exercises on selected topics. To pass the course the student is expected to actively participate in all mandatory assignments and to pass the final examination.
Examination modes
Examination is conducted through the following mandatory components:
Mandatory assignments during the course
Individual examination.
For item 1, the grades are Fail (U) or Pass (G). For item 2, the grades are Fail (U), Pass (G), or High Pass (VG). For the entire course, grades are Fail (U), Pass (G), or High Pass (VG). To receive a Pass grade for the entire course, all exams and required components must be passed.
The right to a retake is offered no earlier than ten business days and no later than three months after the results of the regular examination have been announced. An additional exam is offered within one year. Students who have passed the exam may not retake it to achieve a higher grade. The opportunity to take an exam based on the same syllabus as the regular exam is available for at least two years after the student’s registration for the course. In total, students are given the opportunity to take the exam on five occasions. A student who has taken two exams for a course module or part of a module without passing is entitled to have another examiner appointed, unless there are special reasons not to do so.
An oral follow-up to written assignments may be required.
Transitional provisions
Students have the right to apply to have a previous education or experience evaluated for transfer of credits. For more
information, see: www.umu.se/utbildning/antagning/tillgodoraknande/
Literature
Valid from: 2025-11-14
Theme 1
The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism
Esping-Andersen Gösta
Included in:
The welfare state
Cambridge :
Polity Press in association with Blackwell :
2000 :
xi, 403 s. :
Mandatory
Families in the 21st century
Esping-Andersen Gøsta
1. uppl. :
Stockholm :
SNS förlag :
2016 :
113 s. :
ISBN: 9789186949815
LIBRIS ID: 19668957
Mandatory
Search the University Library catalogue
Reading instructions: pp. 9-113
Gender and welfare regimes: further thoughts
Lewis Jane
Included in:
Social politics
Champaign, Ill. :
Published by the University of Illinois Press in cooperation with the Swedish Council for Social Research :
1994- :
Mandatory
How Do Social Democrats Legitimize Cutbacks? Welfare Retrenchment to Save the Welfare State.
Altermark Niklas, Plesner Åsa
Included in:
Government and opposition
Oxford :
Blackwell :
2000- :
Mandatory
Reading instructions: p.664-681
Theme 2
Conflict, danger and Difference. Nordic heterosexual couples converse about gender equality and fairness.
Magnusson Eva
Included in:
Critical studies of gender equalities
Göteborg ;a Stockholm :
Makadam :
2008 :
223 s. :
Mandatory
Queering the family. Critical reflections on state regulated heteronormativity in the Scandinavian countries.
Stormhoj Christel
Included in:
Lambda nordica
Stockholm :
Föreningen Lambda nordica :
1989- :
Mandatory
From threat to promise. The changing position of gender quota in the Swedish debate on women’s political representation
Törnqvist M.
Included in:
Critical studies of gender equalities
Göteborg ;a Stockholm :
Makadam :
2008 :
223 s. :
Mandatory
Policy texts will be added, approx. 50 pages.
Theme 3
You end up doing the document rather than doing the doing: Diversity, race equality and the politics of documentation.
Ahmed S
Included in:
Ethnic and racial studies.
London :
Routledge & Kegan Paul :
1978- :
Mandatory
Making equality work
: ambiguities, conflicts and change agents in the implementation of equality policies in public sector organisations
Callerstig Anne-Charlott
Linköping :
Linköping University, Department of Thematic Studies, Gender Studies :
2014 :
180 s. (PDF) :
Sammanfattning och ramberättelse från Linköping University Electronic Press
LIBRIS ID: 16210746
Mandatory
Reading instructions: pp 1-50
In the business of feminism: consultants as Sweden's new gender-equality workers.
Rönnblom Malin, Olivius Elisabeth
Included in:
European Journal of Politics and Gender
2018- :
Mandatory
Gender Mainstreaming or Diversity Mainstreaming? The Politics of Doing
Bacchi Carol, Joan Eveline
Included in:
NORA
Stockholm :
Taylor & Francis :
1993- :
Mandatory
Reading instructions: https://vbn.aau.dk/ws/files/16965683/FREIA_wp_70.pdf
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
Reading instructions: 111-138
https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/33166/560246.pdf;jsessionid=9852F129738EFE27AE90BAA7EDECD2C7?sequence=1
Administrators or critical cynics?
: a study of gender equality workers in Swedish higher education
Keisu Britt-Inger, Carbin Maria
Included in:
Nora
London :
Taylor & Francis :
1998- :
LIBRIS ID: 17368306
Mandatory
"What should we do instead?"
: gender-equality projects and feminist critique
Sjöstedt Landén Angelika, Olofsdotter Gunilla
Included in:
Challenging the myth of gender equality in Sweden
Bristol :
Policy Press :
2016 :
1 online resource (a 222 s.) :
LIBRIS ID: 20258774
Mandatory
Imagining the ideal city, planning the gender-equal city in Umeå, Sweden
Sandberg Linda, Rönnblom Malin
Routledge :
2016 :
LIBRIS ID: 20128388
Mandatory
Reference litterature
Constituting gender and gender equality through policy.
Andersson , G., & Lind E, Johansson M, Lidestav G, Lindberg M
Included in:
Equality Diversity and Inclusion - An International Journal
Bradford, England :
Emerald Group Pub. :
Regional development policies and the constructions of gender equality – the Swedish case
Hudson C., Rönnblom M.
Included in:
European journal of political research
Amsterdam :
Elsevier Scientific Publ. :
1973- :
Vol. 1(1973)- :