Nordic Gender Equality Policy in a Europeanisation Perspective

This book provides a comprehensive treatment of the role Nordic countries have played as exporters and importers of gender equality policies, and of how Europeanisation has framed the development and harmonisation of legislation and politics between the countries, with global consequences.

The diverse range of contributors present the argument that the European Union increasingly exerts influence on Nordic equality policy, without undermining the recent significance of the Nordic countries’ gender policy as models for countries all over the world . It demonstrates that differentiation and variation at national and regional levels in the Nordic countries, as well as in Europe in general, matter as much as integrational processes and inner adaptation to EU legislation and international laws. This book explores the limitations of the Europeanisation process and the political diversity of national and regional policies, together with the crucial ways practices in the family life and the labour market concerning gender equality depend on cultural and religious norms and group interests.

Nordic Gender Equality Policy in a Europeanisation Perspective is a key text for students and researchers seeking to understand the interrelations of Nordic and European Union gender policies.

Knut Dørum is professor of history at the University of Agder and at the University of Bergen in Norway. His recent research interests touch upon political and social history from below in the period c. 1750–2018. He has published extensively nationally and internationally on urban history, political culture, democratisation, gender equality policies and female entrepreneurship. He is one of the few male Norwegian historians involved in gender history. His books include From subjects to citizens: Government and political culture in Norway c. 1660–1884 (author), Politics, profession and awakening: Women in Norway in the 19th and 20th century (editor and co-author), Absolutism in decline (co-editor and co-author), and Politics in Europe c. 1800-2010 (author, forthcoming). In 2017, he and three other co-authors won silver award in the contest of the exclusive prize Best European Learning Materials Award, co-organised by the Frankfurt Book Fair, the International Association for Research on Textbooks and Educational Media, and the European Educational Publishers Group.