Är jämställdhet enbart en fråga om siffror?

Sammanfattning

This study analyses how gender equality is constructed as a problem in the Swedish Armed Forces. Using Carol Bacchi’s policy-analytical approach “What’s the Problem Represented to Be” (WPR), it analyses the problem representation produced in central governance and gender mainstreaming documents, which assumptions are taken for granted, what remains not problematized and what effect this causes. The analysis shows that gender equality is predominantly framed as a numerical and instrumental issue, defined by the underrepresentation of women. The solutions are therefore primarily formulated around “the need to recruit more women” while norms of masculinity, power relations and organizational culture largely remain silent in practice. Drawing on theories of hegemonic masculinity and tokenism, the study demonstrates how this problem representation risks reinforcing men as the normative standard and positioning women as the bearers of the equality issue, thereby limiting the transformative potential of gender equality work.