Sammendrag

Artikkelen utforsker hvordan prosesser og hendelser på forskjellige samfunnsarenaer bidro til innføringen av kjønnskvotering i bedriftsstyrer i 2003. Denne reformen fremstilles ofte som likestillingspolitikk på en ny arena, eller som statsfeminisme på fremmarsj. Siri Øyslebø Sørensen argumenterer i tillegg for at reformen var et resultat av at likestillingspolitikk og næringspolitikk ble koblet sammen.

English abstract

State feminism meets the business sector. The background for and advancement of gender quotas on company boards as a political reform

The aim of this paper is to explore how various processes and events in different social arenas contribute in creating the possibility for and advancement of policy reform. It does so by studying the background for, and the 2003 adoption of, the policy reform introducing gender quotas for Norwegian company boards.

 Analysis of qualitative interview0s, documents and media texts shows that state feminist institutions had an influence in producing a «governmentality» regulating the gender balance within the corporate sector. However this governmentality did not have the strength to create a reform breakthrough on its own. Contrary to mainstream opinion, this paper argues that the seemingly ineffective corporate-sector strategies for increasing the number of female top leaders constituted a critical precondition for the reform breakthrough. It also demonstrates how the turning point in the lead up to the policy decision can be characterized as a «slight surprise of action».

Keywords: state feminism, governmentality, gender equality, policy reform