What is the ‘problem’ of gender inequality represented to be in the Swedish forest sector?

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Authors

Gender equality in natural resource management is a matter of sustainability and democracy for Sweden's government, however the country's forest remains a highly gender-segregated sector. We examine how gender inequality is problematized within Swedish forest and rural policy documents using the What's the problem represented to be? (WPR) approach. We build on previous efforts to investigate gender inequality in the forest sector by expanding the critical analysis to rural development policy. We conduct interviews with forest experts, owners, and practitioners to shed light on where there are gaps within the policy representations and uncover alternative policy options that are presented. Our findings corroborate that gender inequality is represented to be a technical problem, with policy measures aiming to increase the number of women within a forest sector that continues to maintain rigid conceptions about forestry production values. While there are claims of success in the increase of women within the sector in aggregate, there is little change in the numbers of women in decision-making positions. Forest policy relies upon women to bring growth and sustainability to the forest industry, while rural policy expects women to halt rural population decline. Our findings suggest that merely trying to fit more women into a mold that has been shaped for and by inflexible forestry and masculine values is an impediment not only to gender equality but also to the inclusion of other social groups and ideas in the changing rural landscapes of Sweden.

Original languageEnglish
JournalEnvironmental Science and Policy
Volume140
Pages (from-to)46-55
Number of pages10
ISSN1462-9011
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 01.02.2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors

Documents

DOI

Recently viewed

Publications

  1. Resilience or vulnerability? Vegetation patterns of a Central Tibetan pastoral ecotone
  2. Process Stability and Reproducibility of the Dieless Drawing Process for AZ31 Magnesium Wires
  3. Qualitative system analysis as a means for sustainable governance of emerging technologies
  4. In situ investigation of microstructure evolution during solidification of Mg10CaxGd (x = 5, 10, 20) alloys
  5. Bioconversion of agri-food residues into lactic acid
  6. Shifting Competency Requirements for IT Professionals in the Digital Transformation: A Competency Transformation Process Model
  7. The Altmark Trans judgment: consequences for the hospital sector
  8. Collisionless damping in the spectra of active plasma resonance spectroscopic probes
  9. Current Status of CSR in the Realm of Supply Management
  10. Digital Design Strategies
  11. Ankunft einer Katze
  12. Towards a ‘Sustainable University’
  13. Measuring plant root traits under controlled and field conditions
  14. Influence of transition metal dopants and temperature on the dehydrogenation and rehydrogenation kinetics of NaAlH4
  15. Metaphorical constructs and semiotic expressions in the BBC Yoruba Internet memes of English Premier League match results
  16. Valorization of industrial waste and by-product streams via fermentation for the production of chemicals and biopolymers
  17. A Reference Model for Data-driven Business Model Innovation Initiatives in Incumbent Firms
  18. Visual Accounting
  19. Development and Implementation of Technical Interventions to Motivate Young Females for STEM Studies
  20. International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis
  21. The persistent decline in unionization in Western and Eastern Germany, 1980-2004
  22. Grauzonen der Feldforschung
  23. Navigating social–ecological changes
  24. Zeit als Ressource im Recht
  25. Causal Inference in Educational Research
  26. History and progress of the generation of structural formulae in chemistry and its applications.
  27. Schreibende unterstützen lernen
  28. A Kinetic Approach to the study of Ideal Multipole Resonance Probe
  29. The role of emerging scientists in restoration ecology
  30. The Case of Willetta Huggins
  31. Biodegradability of some antibiotics, elimination of the genotoxicity and affection of wastewater bacteria in a simple test
  32. Begleitforschung zum NRW-Förderprogramm
  33. Thinking about individual actor-level perspectives in sociotechnical transitions
  34. Musical Interface Agendas. Musical Appropriation via Technological Pre-configuration
  35. Minisymposium: Dynamische Visualisierung in der Lehre von Mathematik
  36. Dimension theory of linear solenoids
  37. If You Have a Hammer, You Only Look for Nails
  38. Future-Proofing Fuel Cells
  39. Local Use of Antibiotics and their Input and Fate in a Small Sewage Treatment Plant
  40. ‘I can show you; here’s the video’–video-supported student-led debates in game-based approaches
  41. Governance of professional service firms: a configurational approach
  42. Zwischen Disruption und Integration
  43. Assessment of key competencies
  44. Aufbruch?!
  45. Entrepreneurship and the "theory of planned behavior"