Gender-equality pioneering, or how three Nordic states celebrated 100 years of women’s suffrage

ABSTRACT

The Nordic countries do not just identify strongly with gender equality: they also increasingly mobilize their pasts, as well as more contemporary notions held at the international level wherein the Nordics are seen as exceptionally gender equal, to highlight and brand themselves in the present as global pioneers of women’s rights. In this article, using nation-branding as an overarching perspective, we examine how this eagerness among the Nordics to be perceived as front-runners of gender rights affected the memory politics at play during the national commemoration of 100 years of women’s suffrage in Finland (2006–2007), Norway (2013) and Sweden (2018–2022). In addition, we ask what national narratives the respective jubilee celebrations helped to facilitate – and whether those narratives correspond with the images that function as the primary brands of Finland, Norway and Sweden today.

KEYWORDS:

• Gender equality
• commemoration
• nation-branding

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Jensen, “Historieformidling og erindringspolitikk”.

2. Jezierska and Towns, “Variations on Shared Themes”; Byrkjeflot et al., The Making and Circulation of Nordic Models, Ideas and Images.

3. Larsen, “The Gender-Progressive Nordics”; Jezierska and Towns, “Variations on Shared Themes”.

4. Jezierska and Towns, “Variations on Shared Themes”.

5. Marklund, “The Social Laboratory, the Middle Way and the Swedish Model”; Anderson and Hilson, “Images of Sweden and the Nordic Countries”.

6. Manns, “Memory Works”; Larsen, “Vellykket jubileumsfortelling”.

7. Jezierska and Towns, “Variations on Shared Themes: Branding the Nordics as Gender Equal.”

8. Aronczyk, “Nation Branding,” 233; Kaneva, Branding Post-Communist Nations.

9. Kirkebø, Langford, and Byrkleflot, “Creating Gender Exceptionalism,” 197.

10. Ibid., 192.

11. Dinnie, Nation Branding; Leonard, Britain^TM; Viktorin et al., Nation Branding in Modern History.

12. Vuignier, “Place Marketing and Place Branding”.

13. Angell and Mordhorst, “National Reputation Management”; Mordhorst, “The History of Nation Branding and Nation Branding as History”.

14. Jezierska and Towns, “Variations on Shared Themes”.

15. Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norway, “Women’s Rights and Gender Equality”.

16. Ministry of Culture, Norway, “Gender Equality”.

17. Swedish Institute, “The Swedish Institute”.

18. Jezierska and Towns, “Variations on Shared Themes”.

19. Andersson and Hilson, “Images of Sweden and the Nordic Countries”; Marklund, “The Social Laboratory, the Middle Way and the Swedish Model”; Marklund and Petersen, “Return to Sender”.

20. Government Offices of Sweden, “Handbook Sweden’s Feminist Foreign Policy”.

21. Country Brand Delegation [of Finland], Mission for Finland.

22. Moilanen, “A Road Map for Finland’s Nation Branding”.

23. Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Finland, “Finland Is a Gender Equality Pioneer”.

24. Aronsson et al., “Nordic National Histories,” 282.

25. Aronsson et al., “Nordic National Histories”; Heiret og Ryymin, “Konklusjon”; Markkola, “Constructing and Deconstructing the ‘Strong Finnish Woman’”.

26. See Colman-Denstad, “Historiebruk som merkevarebygging”; Larsen, “Vellykket jubileumsfortelling”; Manns, “Memory Works”.

27. Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Finland, “Finland Is a Gender Equality Pioneer”.

28. Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Finland, “Naisten täydet poliittiset oikeudet 100 vuotta,” Foreword.

29. Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Finland, “Naisten täydet poliittiset oikeudet 100 vuotta,” Foreword, 9–10.

30. Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Finland, “Naisten täydet poliittiset oikeudet 100 vuotta,” abstract.

31. Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Finland, “Naisten täydet poliittiset oikeudet 100 vuotta,” 10.

32. See http://www.aanioikeus.fi/.

33. See http://www.aanioikeus.fi/. See also Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Finland, “Naisten täydet poliittiset oikeudet 100 vuotta,” 9.

34. NYTKIS (Naisjärjestöt Yhteistyössä–Kvinnoorganisationer i Samarbete), an umbrella organization for all women’s associations in the country, was the key actor or stakeholder Members of the feminist organization Naisasialiitto Unioni, which is Finland’s oldest feminist society, founded in 1892, were also included, in addition to members of the National Council of Women of Finland, which was established in 1911.

35. Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Finland, “Naisten täydet poliittiset oikeudet 100 vuotta,” Foreword. See also www.aanioikeus.fi/asiantuntijatietokanta/ (accessed 8 July 2021).

36. Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Finland, “Naisten täydet poliittiset oikeudet 100 vuotta,” 15–16.

37. A doctoral dissertation was also included in the list of centenary publications presented by the committee; see Kuusipalo, “Sukupuolittunut poliittinen edustus Suomessa”. In addition, an agreement on the production of specific web pages on the subject of women’s suffrage was signed by the Christina Institute of the University of Helsinki, the university’s institute for gender studies. This increased the spread of news about various events, with smaller articles being included to provide information about the history of women’s suffrage in Finland, its political significance and other related themes. Information about the anniversary was to be disseminated widely, including to schools and municipalities, and everyone was invited to join in and organize their own celebration events; see Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Finland, “Naisten täydet poliittiset oikeudet 100 vuotta,” 13. See also http://www.aanioikeus.fi/en/ (accessed 24 June 2020).

38. Sulkunen, Lähteenmäki, and Korpi-Tommola, Kvinnorna i Riksdagen. The book was published by the Centre for Parliamentary Studies at Turku University.

39. Sulkunen, Lähteenmäki, and Korpi-Tommola, Kvinnorna i Riksdagen, 10.

40. Markkola, “Constructing and Deconstructing the ‘Strong Finnish Woman’”.

41. Sulkunen, Nevala-Nurmi, and Markkola, “Introduction,” 1.

42. Ibid., 1–2.

43. Moring, Kön och politik.

44. Ministry of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion, Norway, Stemmerettsjubileet 1913–2013, 5.

45. Ibid.

46. Ljunggren, “Elitist Egalitarianism”.

47. Colman-Denstad, “Historiebruk som merkevarebygging,” 15, with references to the final report on the constitutional jubilee of Norway in 2014 (‘Grunnlovsjubilleets sluttrapport’).

48. Håland, “Mødrene har grædt”; Håland, “Usynliggjøring”.

49. Office of the Prime Minster, “Open Letter to the Prime Minster and the President of the Norwegian Parliament,” April 16, 2009. For details, see Colman-Denstad, “Historiebruk som merkevarebygging”.

50. Roux, “Huitfeldt vil feire kvinners stemmerett”.

51. Folkvord, “Et merkeår for demokratiet”.

52. Colmand-Denstad, “Historiebruk som merkevarebygging,” 58 (referring to Colman-Denstad’s interview with Torunn Tryggestad, March 20, 2019).

53. Ministry of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion, Norway, Stemmerettsjubileet 1913–2013, 11.

54. Gro Harlem Brundtland was the first woman to serve as prime minister of Norway, in 1981, 1986–1989 and 1990–1996. She was also the first female prime minster in the Nordic region. The Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), which has a specialist team on ‘Women, Peace and Security’, was the formal organizer of the conference.

55. Ericsson Ryste, “I mål”.

56. Ericsson Ryste, “I mål”. Ericsson Ryste, “Women’s Rocky Road to Suffrage,” emphasis added.

57. Larsen, “Kvinne- og kjønnshistoriens fortellinger”; Larsen and Øksendal, “De glemte kvinnevalgene”. See also Melby, “Husmortid, 1900–1950,” 272; Blom, “1905 – et gledens eller sorgens år?,” 115; Hagemann, “To Become a Political Subject,” 128.

58. Larsen, “The Gender-Progressive Nordics”; Vangen, “Gender Equal Forerunners?”.

59. Larsen, “The Gender-Progressive Nordics,” 27–30.

60. Archive after Fredrikke Marie Qvam, Private Archive No. 5, The University Library of NTNU, Special Collection, Trondheim, Norway. Box 22: Correspondence 1908; Box 23: Correspondence 1909.

61. Vangen, “Gender Equal Forerunners?”.

62. Colmand-Denstad, “Historiebruk som merkevarebygging,” 27–28. Camilla Collett was a female author who as early as the 1860s had openly sympathized with the feminist cause, before Norway had any feminist movement to speak of. Gina Krog was founder of the first suffragette association in Norway, established in 1884; longstanding editor of the feminist bulletin Nylænde; and head of the Norwegian branch of the International Council of Women. Fernanda Nissen was a literary critics and spokesperson for working-class women.

63. A film about ‘the great four [feminists]’ was commissioned by the planning committee, in addition to short paperback biographies of each of them; see Ministry of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion, Norway, Stemmerettsjubileet 1913–2013, 38–40.

64. Skaar, “Norsk likestillingshistorie ble årets vakreste bok”.

65. Skjelsbæk and Tryggestad, “Protecting the Brand?”.

66. The first chamber had turned down the suggestion for several years. For a detailed overview of the process and the restrictions to vote, see Berg and Ericsson, Allmän rösträtt?

67. Manns, “Memory Works”.

68. The government in place until the election of September 2018 – a coalition between the Social Democratic Party and the Green Party – appointed a committee for strengthening democracy; see Sveriges Riksdag, “Demokratin 100 år”. For a detailed presentation and analysis of the centenary of women’s suffrage in the national jubilee on democracy, see Manns, “Memory Works”.

69. Sveriges Riksdag, “Riksdagen firar demokratin 2018–2022”.

70. Barrling and Holmberg, Demokratins framtid.

71. The main material for schools consists of the volume Demokratins framtid and the magazine Demokratin står aldrig stilla!, which was slightly updated in August 2020. All study material is available online at http://firademokratin.riksdagen.se/studiematerial/studiematerialet/ (accessed 13 July 2021).

72. See Sveriges Riksdag, “Talmannens inledningsanförande”; Sveriges Riksdag, “Filmer”; Nilsson, “Sista akten i rösträttsdramat”; Demokratin står aldrig stilla!; Norlén, “Förord.”

73. The first women elected were, in the first chamber, Kerstin Hesselgren (Liberal) and, in the second chamber, Nelly Thüring (Social Democrat), Elisabeth Tamm (Liberal), Bertha Wellin (Conservative) and Agda Östlund (Social Democrat).

74. Previous publications by the Swedish parliament include Hamrin-Thorell, Lindström, and Stenberg, Kvinnors röst och rätt (1968) and Björkenhem, Engström, and Wängnerud, Rätt att rösta 1919–1995 (1994).

75. Manns, “Memory Works”.

76. Holgersson and Wängnerud, Rösträttens århundrade. The book was funded by Riksbankens jubileumsfond and published on an open-access basis, which means it is free to download. Riksbankens jubileumsfond also provided free printed copies to schoolteachers; see Riksbankens jubileumsfond, ‘RJ skänker antologi till lärare’.

77. Manns, “Memory Works”.

78. Jezierska and Towns, “Variations on Shared Themes”.

79. Larsen, “The Gender-Progressive Nordics”.

80. Jensen, “Historieformidling og erindringspolitikk”; Erll, Memory in Culture; Erll, “Cultural Memory Studies”.

81. See www.stm.fi (accessed 10 March 2020).

82. Browning, “Branding Nordicity”; Andersson and Hilson, “Images of Sweden and the Nordic Countries”; Marklund, “The Social Laboratory, the Middle Way and the Swedish Model”; Marklund and Petersen, “Return to Sender”; Hellesnes, “Fabricating Sweden”; Larsen, Moss, and Skjelsbæk, Gender Equality and Nation Branding in the Nordic Region.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Eirinn Larsen

Eirinn Larsen, born 1969, is a professor of history at the University of Oslo. Her publications span the history of capitalism and entrepreneurship, European management education, suffrage rights and democracy, higher education and minority rights, science policies and modern historiography. Larsen leads the interdisciplinary research project ‘Nordic Branding’, financed by the UiO:Nordic initiative (2015–2023).

Ulla Manns

Ulla Manns, born in 1959, is a professor of gender studies and an associate professor of history of ideas at Södertörn University. Manns specializes on the history of 19th-century feminism in Sweden and has focused especially on ideas of emancipation. Recent studies are on feminist historiography, cultural memory and same-sex relations in the early women’s movement. She has also studied the development of Swedish and Nordic gender research.

Ann-Catrin Östman

Ann-Catrin Östman, born 1965, is a senior lecturer and docent of history at Åbo Akademi University. In her research, she has focused especially on the history and historiography of gender, citizenship, and work in agrarian cultures, as well as on the history of consumption, trade and migration. Östman leads a project on banishments in Finland and Sweden 1500–1900 (Academy of Finland, 2021–2024).