Från statsstyre till privat företagande? Omstruktureringen av arbetsmarknadspolitiken och dess effekter på kvinnor i glesbygden

Projektbeskrivning

This project aims to study women s livelihood strategies in northern sparsely populated areas, both in relation to the shift that has occurred in state governing of the labour market (resulting in a changed focus from employment to entrepreneurship) and in relation to the gendered labour market. We believe these conditions differ markedly from the situation in urban areas. In more sparsely populated areas, public welfare services are contracted, which also entails that employees are increasingly seen as entrepreneurs. We use historical methods, discourse analysis and in-depth interviews. The study is divided into three parts: First, to study a shift from housework to paid work in the 1960’s and 1970’s, a policy which shaped two distinct labour markets, one existing labour market for men and one emerging labour market for women in the public sector. Second, to examine the shift from wage work to entrepreneurship in the labour market policies of the 1990’s and 2000’s. Third, is to consider the last decade of globalization in connection to regional growth policy. In this part, a number of life history interviews are conducted, with both Swedish-born and foreign-born women in the northern rural counties. Thai women are currently the largest national group of foreign-born people that has immigrated to rural Sweden. This project will analyse this as an effect of globalization and population movements that connect Swedish northern rural areas to rural areas of northern Thailand.