In 2003 the Swedish parliament passed the bill Shared Responsibility: Sweden’s Policy for Global Development (Gov. Bill 2002/03:122). As the first nation-state in the world, Sweden established a coherent policy on global development politics. The background matters for Sweden’s Policy for Global Development are a long history of unequal North - South relations and the effects of processes started more recently, most often mentioned as globalisation, which have increased interdependence between different parts of the world. Gender equality is one of the central elements in the policy along with human rights, democracy, sustainable use of natural resources and protection of the environment, economic growth, social development and social security, conflict management and human security, and global public goods. Gender equality is also often used as an example in the debate on culture and diverse understandings of development. Therefore, this is a pertinent focus of the thesis. The key concepts of the thesis are consequently gender equality, development and culture and how they are used, are central to the contemporary discourse on global development politics, which has evolved over the past decades, but also reflect old images of the world originating from the hegemony of colonial and Western thought. The holistic approach to development will be discussed, as well as the Swedish self-image reflected in the policy and universal values versus perspectives of cultural relativism. Postcolonial theory provides critical perspectives on development and problematic issues of cultural difference in North – South relations. Considering the focus on gender equality, postcolonial feminist theories will be used to shed some light on the content of Sweden’s Policy for Global Development.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:liu-4640 |
| Date | January 2005 |
| Creators | Svensson, Sofia |
| Publisher | Linköpings universitet, Institutionen för tematisk utbildning och forskning, Institutionen för tematisk utbildning och forskning |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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