Gender Equality in International Aid: What has Norwegian Gender Politics Got to Do With It?¹

1 The authors are involved in a research project titled “Gender in Poverty Reduction: Critical Explorations of Norwegian Aid Policy on Gender Equality and Women’s Rights,” developed by an interdisciplinary group of scholars based at the University of Bergen and Christian Michelsen Institute.

Abstract

Norway is often seen as a “world champion” in gender equality. Norwegian aid policies on gender often emphasize how lessons can be learned from “the Norwegian model” and experiences. This article explores the extent to which Norway’s domestic gender policies have influenced the country’s aid policies. The analysis, which is based on literature review of Norwegian gender equality history and discursive analysis of the current gender and aid policy documents, reveals that the essence of Norwegian domestic gender equality politics—social policies that address the relationship between care and breadwinning—is largely missing in Norway’s aid policies. While we doubt whether a specific model can be exported, we suggest that Norwegian experiences may provide valuable inputs for development aid policies. Since Norwegian aid policies tend to reflect the dominating international aid discourse, our analysis has relevance beyond the particular Norwegian case. We argue that policies of care, motherhood and fatherhood, should be at the heart of the Norwegian and international aid policies.

Key Words:

• Gender equality models
• Norwegian aid policies
• social policies
• Nancy Fraser
• motherhood and fatherhood
• care and breadwinning

Notes

1 The authors are involved in a research project titled “Gender in Poverty Reduction: Critical Explorations of Norwegian Aid Policy on Gender Equality and Women’s Rights,” developed by an interdisciplinary group of scholars based at the University of Bergen and Christian Michelsen Institute.