Sammendrag

Internasjonalt har kjønnskvotering igjen blitt gjenstand for stor oppmerksomhet. Mens kvotering i politikken har spredd seg globalt, er kvotering i næringslivet en i utgangspunktet norsk reform, men også den er nå inne i en spredningsbølge. Denne artikkelen beskriver og drøfter den nye kvoteringsloven. Og hovedspørsmålet er om, og i tilfellet på hvilke måter, loven utfordrer en norsk likestillingspolitisk tradisjon for ikke-innblanding overfor næringslivet.

English abstract

Quota tradition and expansion of state control

Gender quotas are currently the object of renewed global attention. In Norway, the establishment of quota measures reached its peak in the 1980s, with internal quota procedures being introduced by several political parties, quota measures introduced to legally regulate the gender composition of publicly appointed decision-making bodies, and positive action procedures introduced in employment (mostly public sector) to promote gender balance and in different fields of education to balance admission. This article describes and discusses aspects of the new, Norwegian quota law which regulates the gender composition of boards governing key sectors of Norwegian economic life. Its core question is how and to what extent the law challenges the Norwegian gender equality political tradition of non-involvement with the affairs of business and commerce. This implies a discussion of the movements in the interface between politics and economy.

Keywords: Gender equality, quotas, economic life, boards, representation