The politics of persuasion. Opinion-shaping activities and gender equality in Sweden, 1960-1970

ABSTRACT

In this paper, the role and significance of opinion-shaping and persuasion activities are explored through an analysis of the activation of women in the Swedish labour market in the 1960s, highlighting the ways in which gender equality ideals became infused in these activities through a process of ‘transformative state feminism’. The analysis draws on qualitative data including archival material and interviews. Activation policies in the 1960s emphasised the ideology of full employment including the importance of increasing women’s participation in paid work, hence paving the way for a dual-earner family model. The concrete measures associated with implementation of such policies were carried out by the National Labour Market Board (AMS), and included retraining and advanced training courses but also a number of innovative opinion-shaping activities. Two of these are analysed in this paper: a radio series called ‘Housewife switches job’ and the establishment of a so-called ‘activation inspector’. Following this analysis, the underlying ideas permeating such opinion-shaping activities and the actors who infused ideals of gender equality into the process are examined. In conclusion, lessons for the ongoing transformation of traditional gender relations and prospects for future advances in gender equality are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Sweden
• activation policies
• persuasion
• opinion-shaping
• gender equality
• dual earner model

Acknowledgments

I am grateful for the constructive and really encouraging critique provided by the editors Gillian Whitehouse and Michelle Brady. I would also like to thank the two anonymous referees whose helpful and clarifying comments improved the argument and analysis of the paper. This work was supported by the Swedish Research Council.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Throughout the 1970s, the gender equality ideology gained greater foothold in policy debates and reforms but still during the 1960s, women was seen as experiencing particular problems (Lundqvist 2011).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Swedish Research Council under Grant 2009-1898.

Notes on contributors

Åsa Lundqvist

Åsa Lundqvist is professor of Sociology at Lund University, Sweden. Her main research interests include feminist analysis of the history of the welfare state and welfare policies, especially labour market regulation and family policies. Her most recent book is Transforming Gender and Family Relations. How Active Labour Market Policies Shaped the Dual Earner Model (Edward Elgar 2017). Her research also appears in journals such as Social Politics, Journal of Family Studies, Journal of Family History, and Journal of Social Policy and Society.