Genus och politik

The course gives students basic tools to analyze both theoretical and empirical questions about gender and politics from a historical and global comparative perspective, with a certain emphasis on Sweden. Students are offered an introduction to central theories and concepts in gender theory relating to feminism, citizenship, political representation, political leadership and political communication, with a focus on power and influence at both societal and individual levels. The empirical parts of the course give the students concrete examples of how such concepts and theories can be used to analyze politics from a gender perspective. For example, we examine the representation of women in terms of its historical development and significance for the development of democracy and politics, as well as global trends in how female politicians are portrayed in the media. In addition, we discuss various policy instruments (family policy, quotas, etc.) to achieve gender equality.