Kvinnor mot jämställdhet

Konservatism eller arbetskritik?

Abstract

Women against gender equality: Conservativism or critique of labour

This paper examines the complexities surrounding feminist articulations diverging from the established gender equality policies in Sweden, particularly concerning the valorization of wage labor as the cornerstone of women’s emancipation. Drawing on feminist-Marxist theories of social reproduction, it analyzes instances of women’s resistance to the hegemonic discourse of full-time wage labor, focusing on three empirical examples: the Haro organization advocating for the recognition of unpaid domestic labor, the 2005 daycare debate ignited by Nina Björk, and the discourse of ‘mama-influencers’ typified by UnderbaraClara. Through the lens of boundary struggles and emotional labor, this study challenges the binary division between productive and reproductive work, making visible alternative feminist agendas centered on reducing wage labor and revaluing reproductive work. By reinterpreting women’s narratives within a feminist social reproduction theory framework, this paper aims to show how a feminist-Marxist analysis can broaden the scope of mainstream gender equality discourse.