Seminar: Tobias Axelsson

Presenter: Tobias K. Axelsson, PhD in Gender Studies, Senior Lecturer in Social Studies, Örebro University.

Norm-critique as revitalizer of gender equality?
Local policy actors’ norm-critical understandings of Swedish preschool’s gender-equality mission
In this seminar, I would like to present and, together with the participants, discuss a paper which aims to better understand and problematize the relationship between gender equality, as formal curricular content, and norm-critique, as informal curricular content, in educational policymaking in the field of Swedish preschool. The paper asks: What understandings are ascribed to the notion of norm-critique in relation to Swedish preschool’s gender-equality mission? Theoretically, the paper draws on the concept of epistemological understandings and the dynamic between epistemologies of gender equality and norm-critique. In terms of materials and methods, three focus group discussions with 13 preschool managers, here conceptualized as local policy actors, were analysed. The main finding is that these local policy actors view the notion of norm-critique as a revitalizer of the gender-equality mission of the Swedish preschool. A first conclusion is that the notion of norm-critique enhances the gender-equality mission because it might help local policy actors to view gender equality from a broader perspective and in relation to other, intersecting causes of inequality. A second, and somewhat contradictory, conclusion is that the notion of norm-critique risks undermining the gender-equality mission by replacing it.

Reference
Axelsson, T. K. (2023). Norm-critique as revitalizer of gender equality? Local policy actors’ norm-critical understandings of Swedish preschool’s gender-equality mission. Nordic Journal of Studies in Educational Policy, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1080/20020317.2023.2180797

Link to Zoom room
https://sh-se.zoom.us/j/63926036287