Att fånga det politiska i en post-politisk tid

Trygghet och jämställdhet som styrningsverktyg

Abstract

Capturing the political in post-political times: safety and gender equality as governing tools

How can politics be critically explored, at a time when governing is increasingly seen as a matter of technical problem-solving? In this article, we argue that a governmentality perspective provides a fruitful analytical approach for capturing power and the political in processes and practices of governing. Drawing on our respective research, we highlight how two seemingly indisputable and desirable policy goals – safety and gender equality – operate as governing tools in ways that conceal political conflict and contestation. A governmentality perspective offers a useful analytical toolbox for exploring how political problems are constructed and rendered governable, and how governing practices are legitimated as a particular problem representation is naturalized. This analytical approach thus draws attention to questions of particular relevance in an era of post-politics and widespread de-politicization of fundamentally political issues, such as safety or gender equality.