In 2014, the Swedish government announced its intentions to conduct an outspoken feminist foreign policy. In the years that have followed that same government have applied legislation and policy in the refugee and asylum area that are inconsistent with some aspects of that policy. The purpose of this thesis is to lay bare some of those inconsistencies. It entails a critical analysis of the Law on temporary limitations to the possibility of being granted a residence permit in Sweden (2016:752), the EU-Turkey Deal as well as the male-network criteria. By applying a feminist legal perspective in the analysis, this thesis will highlight how these laws and policies have gendered implications. The material consists of the legislation and policies in question as well as multitude of reports and statistics aimed at illustrating the consequences of the three chosen examples. The purpose is not to present a complete view of the asylum-seeking process and the laws and policies that effects it but rather to show how the examples analysed here present inconsistencies in relation to the feminist foreign policy. This thesis also places those inconsistencies in a larger context as it poses questions on both inclusion and exclusion in the Swedish feminist ‘project’ as well as places them within the narrative of criticism aimed at the one-sidedness of the wider human rights project.

Studien tar sin utgångspunkt i den breda frågan om normativa ställningstaganden i staters utrikespolitik. Studiens syfte är att skapa en förståelse för vikten av att studera normer i kopplat till utrikespolitik, i studier som ämnar öka förståelsen för på vilket sätt normer påverkar staters utrikespolitisk. Feministisk IR och Naila Kabeers teori om stärkt egenmakt ligger till grund för teoridelen och belyser vikten av begreppen moral, genus, makt och egenmakt kopplat till utrikespolitik. Studiens resultat har påvisat att det finns ett behov av att studera normer kopplat till staters utrikespolitiska handlingsplan för att skapa en djupare förståelse för staters utrikespolitik. Genom att studera egenmakt i relation till Sveriges feministiska utrikespolitik synliggörs ett behov av att studera normativa ställningstaganden kopplat till utrikespolitiken. Detta eftersom att Sveriges utrikespolitiska handlingsplan bygger på analys och lösningar utifrån feministisk teori. Studiens påvisar ett behov av vidare studier av normers påverkan på staters utrikespolitik för att få mer kunskap om på vilket sätt normativa ställningstaganden påverkar staters utrikespolitiska analys, beteenden och beslut. / The study is based on the broad issue of normative positions in state foreign policy. The purpose of the study is to create an understanding of the importance of studying norms related to foreign policy, in studies aim at increasing an understanding of how norms affect the state's foreign policy. Feminist IR and Naila Kabeer's theory of strengthened empowerment forms the basis of the theory aspect, and highlights the importance of the concepts of morality, gender, power and empowerment linked to foreign policy. The study's findings have shown that there is a need to study norms linked to state's foreign policy action plan to create a deeper understanding of state's foreign policy. By studying empowerment in relation to Sweden's feminist foreign policy, there is a need to study normative positions related to foreign policy. This is because Sweden's foreign policy action plan is based on analysis and solutions based on feminist theory. The study demonstrates the need for further studies of the impact of norms on the state's foreign policy to gain more knowledge of how normative positions affect the state's foreign policy analysis, behavior and decision making.

This study is based on Swedish feminist foreign policy and how ideas about feminist peacebuilding have found their place in international peace and conflict studies. Since World War II, traditional security policy has been dominated by liberal explanatory models and strategies to achieve a more peaceful world order, and the main elements of liberal peace include democracy, international cooperation and free trade. Feminist theory criticizes the liberal view of peace by pointing out the meaning of human security rather than national security. The purpose of the study is to depict the type of peace that the Swedish government has worked for in Colombia and intends to answer the questions, what has the Swedish government's work for peace in Colombia looked like and what type of peace, feminist peace or liberal peace, can the work describe best? By using a qualitative content analysis as a method with an analysis tool that is built based on the theoretical framework, the study aims to more deeply examine the empirical material to depict what the government’s worked looked like during the peace process. The study shows that Sweden has worked for a feminist peace in the negotiations and statements that were directly linked to the peace process, but that the traditional liberal perspective still dominates in certain areas such as trade policy. The study contributes to an increased understanding of the development of Swedish feminist politics.

This paper takes its point of departure in the skewed attention towards the ‘protection’ of women rather than the ‘participation’ of women when talking about ‘Women, Peace &Security’ (WPS) in the UN Security Council. Given the centrality of Sweden, as the first country in the world with a feminist foreign policy, this thesis fills a gap in the current research as it investigates whether this skewed attention was reflected during Sweden’s time as a non-permanent member in the UNSC 2017-2018 or not. A quantitative content analysis of 318 Swedish statements in the UNSC 2017-2018 conducted in this paper shows an overall result where Sweden mentions women in the context of participation more frequently than protection. This outcome is further explained by three Government Officials active during Sweden’s time in the UNSC, as resulting from the Swedish strategy and the feminist foreign policy. Furthermore, the results of this study indicate a change in how frequently Sweden refers to participation over protection between 2017 and 2018; the strategy of attaching larger focus to participation is significantly clearer the second year. The interviewees explain that this was due to the increased experience in the UNSC and increased credibility for Sweden among the other member states. The current stage of the conflict or peacekeeping operation in question, i.e. in the country of discussion in the UNSC, was also considered as a large part of the strategy, suggesting the nature of the conflict to be of importance for the results and hence relevant to analyze in future research on the attention payed to participation versus protection in the UNSC.

The field of international development cooperation has experienced an increasing demand for result-driven management over the last decades. However, a clear consensus of the meaning of ‘ results’ is often lacking in initiatives and projects for social change. As the field functions throughout myriads of contexts and cultures, the demand of results therefore brings upon issues of definitions and discourse, as well as underlying values. The goals and strategies set out to achieve certain results are influenced by assumptions that define the problem definition of the targeted issue. A hierarchy in international development, the so-called aid chain, is determined by who provides funding for cooperation projects. The flow of top-down funding is shown to be accompanied by a flow of top-down policies, that are further accompanied by underlying values, problem definitions, and assumptions. This study inquires whether different notions, assumptions, and problem definitions on gender equality across cultures in the aid chain might disturb result-reporting in international projects. Departing from a postcolonial perspective, the content and discourse of the Swedish feminist foreign policy and steering documents from an Indigenous women’s organization in Guatemala are analysed and compared. Seeing policies and policy-making as a significant communicative tool and practice in the field, this study shows how results, goals, strategies, problem definition and assumptions correlate to each other in result-reporting in international development cooperation projects.

A variety of research has been done on why it is important to include local women in peace processes to gain a more sustainable peace. Despite this, there is a limited amount of information and research about women mediation networks and their aim to empower local women peacebuilders. This research explores how women mediation networks can support and empower women in conflict resolutions in relation to the Swedish Feminist Foreign Policy and the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325. By using semi-structured interviews and literature analysis, a case study of the Swedish Women’s Mediation Network will be conducted. The analysis of the Swedish Women’s Mediation Network, reveals that the network mainly works with the representation of women and uses capacity-building to empower women in other regions. This research brings more awareness to the Women Mediation Networks and their mission to increase the number of women in peace processes.

The Swedish Sex Purchase Act was unique, when introduced in 1999. While it was legal to demand and collect payment for sexual services it became a crime to respond to such demands or offer payment. It is now part of Sweden’s foreign policy to ‘export’ this law, using gender equality arguments. Several countries have since followed. The law is often portrayed as a triumph of feminism and women’s political struggles. The law is gender neutral however and applies equally to e.g. MSM sex trade (Men who have Sex with Men), a phenomenon that the normal gender equality arguments do not capture. ‘Homosexual prostitution’ was initially argued in the legislative proceedings, to be so different from heterosexual prostitution, that the scientific investigator raised concerns if one-sided criminalisation was considered by legislators. Yet, this is what happened. This study traces exactly how this came to be, analysing legislative documents and debates, focusing on heteronormative reasonings. In the final round of legislation the question had entirely disappeared. MSM sex trade or culture was not even mentioned and can be seen as heteronormative collateral damage.

En 2014, la Suède adopte la première politique étrangère ouvertement féministe. Depuis, plusieurs autres pays ont suivi l’initiative suédoise et adopté explicitement l’étiquette féministe pour orienter leur politique étrangère. Or, on remarque que, parmi les pays qui ont des engagements significatifs envers l’égalité des genres depuis plusieurs années, certains sont réticents à adopter l’étiquette féministe, et ce, malgré leurs actions « féministes » sur la scène internationale. C’est notamment le cas de la Nouvelle-Zélande, un pays actuellement dirigé par Jacinda Ardern qui s’identifie elle-même comme étant ouvertement féministe. En mobilisant la théorie des rôles, je cherche à comprendre comment les attentes et valeurs liées aux rôles performés par la Nouvelle-Zélande peuvent entrer en conflit avec l’adoption d’une étiquette féministe. En identifiant les principaux rôles mis de l’avant par la Nouvelle-Zélande depuis 1972, je trouve qu’il n’y a pas de conflit explicite entre l’adoption de l’étiquette féministe et les rôles de bon citoyen international et de leader dans le Pacifique. Je relève cependant un potentiel conflit en lien avec les intérêts économiques du pays, ces derniers étant souvent priorisés par les différents gouvernements en présence d’un conflit de rôle. / In 2014, Sweden adopted the first openly feminist foreign policy. Since then, several other countries have followed the Swedish initiative and explicitly adopted the feminist label to guide their foreign policy. Yet, we note that among countries that have had significant commitments to gender equality for several years, some are reluctant to adopt the feminist label despite their "feminist" actions on the international stage. This is notably the case in New Zealand, a country currently led by Jacinda Ardern, who openly identifies herself as a feminist. By mobilizing role theory, I seek to understand how the expectations and values associated with the roles performed by New Zealand may conflict with adopting a feminist label. In identifying the key roles put forward by New Zealand since 1972, I find that there is no explicit conflict between the adoption of the feminist label and the roles of good international citizen and Pacific leader. I do, however, note a potential conflict with the country's economic interests, as different governments often prioritize these in the presence of a role conflict.

Recently, a new IR movement called Feminist Foreign Policy (FFP) has become more influential and achieved certain success when states like Sweden, Canada and France adopted these theories. This study will analyse Switzerland’s foreign policy to understand to what extent it is a FFP. Feminist Foreign Policy Analysis has developed new frameworks to answer this research question. Such as Aggestam and True’s four commitments, which is adapted in this thesis. Through a qualitative content analysis, policy documents of the Swiss government are analysed for gender mainstreaming, international development assistance, Women, Peace and Security (WPS) and gender equality mechanisms. The findings are that the implementation of WPS policies is at an advanced stage, and the international development assistance includes clearly defined budget goals and many pro-gender objectives. On the other hand, there is a lack of gender mainstreaming throughout Switzerland’s core foreign policy papers and gender equality mechanisms are rather sparse. The research concludes that, although Swiss FP contains feminist elements, it cannot be defined as feminist.

[pt] Esta pesquisa busca estudar o papel da Suécia como empreendedor normativo da política externa feminista, por meio de um mapeamento histórico dos acontecimentos domésticos e de teorias sobre difusão de normas. Com este intuito traçamos os acontecimentos e atores internos que influenciaram o país a partir da segunda onda do feminismo, até a declaração, em 2014, que seu governo e sua política externa seriam feministas. Avaliamos, por meio das teorias de Finnermore e Sikkink, e Bjorkdal sobre o ciclo de vida da difusão de normas, se a forma como a política externa feminista foi lançada e divulgada reforça, ou não, o papel da Suécia como empreendedor normativo na esfera global. Observa-se, com base na forma em que a política é apresentada – um manual, em múltiplos idiomas, com forte estratégia de promoção e divulgação –, que ela surge com o intuito de influenciar outros Estados e atores a adotarem uma visão em prol da igualdade de gênero e assim consegue provocar o debate e dar visibilidade à pauta. Avaliamos que a norma em questão se encontra em estágio de disseminação e que ainda há amplas possiblidades e desdobramentos para a internalização do conceito política externa feminista, pois este encontra-se em pleno desenvolvimento. / [en] This research studies Sweden s role as a norm entrepreneur for feminist foreign policy, through an analysis of the country s historical feminist movement, its domestic events and based on diffusion of norms theories. To do this, we analyze the events and internal actors that influenced Sweden, starting from second-wave feminism, until 2014 when the country announced that its government and foreign policy would be feminist. We then assess, by means of theories on the life cycle of norm diffusion by Finnermore and Sikkink, and Bjorkdal, whether the way Sweden launched and disseminated its feminist foreign policy reinforces, or not, the country s role as a norm entrepreneur in the global scenario. We observe, based on the way in which the policy is presented – as a manual, in multiple languages, with a strategic promotion and dissemination plan –, that it arises with the intention to influence other States and actors to adopt the feminist perspective. By doing this, Sweden incentivizes the debate on gender equality and gives it visibility. We conclude that the norm in question is still being disseminated and, therefore, that there are ample possibilities for developments in terms of the internalization of feminist foreign policy on a global scale, as the concept is still in development.