Þorgerður Einarsdóttir

Queering the trans: Gender and sexuality binaries in Icelandic trans, queer, and feminist communities

Activists in feminist, queer, and trans movements share in common a critique of the existing gender order. Yet activists may have different understandings of what is wrong with existing gender arrangements, and different understandings of what might be required to establish greater social equality. Using data from interviews with activists in the feminist, queer, and trans movements in Iceland, this article looks at the ways that gender equality and the gender binary are understood by individuals who identify with feminist, queer, and/or trans activism, and some of their shared and conflicting critiques of the existing gender order.

Testing the concept of academic housework in a European setting: Part of academic career-making or gendered barrier to the top?:

In the labour market women’s jobs have frequently been conceptually and literally tied to housework and hence thought of as unskilled and therefore undervalued. Although academic institutions have undergone changes, the fact that women still carry the main responsibility for domestic and caring tasks continues to follow them into the academic work environment. In this explorative study we focus on the gendered aspects of undervalued work in academia by examining how academic housework manifests itself in different academic contexts and how early career academics in six European countries contend with it. We will link the undervalued academic work to housework in a double sense. Firstly, we will discuss how domestic housework affects the working conditions of academic women and men differently in their early career. Secondly, we will approach academic work through the lenses of academic housework, hence making use of the notion of ‘housework’ in a transferred and more figurative meaning. The discussion is aimed at developing a new conceptual framework in the analysis of gendered academic careers. In this way the topic of academic housework, which seems to be accompanied by social taint, may become more easily discussable within the academic work environment.

The Realization of Gender Quotas in Post-collapse Iceland

Abstract Gender quotas have become a way to increase women’s participation in leading positions in economic life. Iceland enacted corporate gender quotas in 2013, requiring a minimum of 40% of each gender. These quotas were legalized after the financial collapse in 2008, which many blamed on male dominance of the economy. The focus of this paper is the timeframe of the turn to quotas, and the media discourse and parliamentary debate regarding men and women in corporate management. Van Dijk’s theoretical framework of critical discourse analysis was employed to examine data from the period 2009–2015. Firstly, we studied 150 articles in three online newspapers: Morgunblaðið, Vísir, and Viðskiptablaðið, written between 2009 and 2015. Secondly, we examined 132 parliamentary documents in which gender quotas were proposed and debated in 2009 and 2010. Three themes were highlighted: gender difference and opportunities during critical times; women and capability; and changed discourse. In order to shed light on the struggle for women’s influence, we examine how the debate manifested the Wollstonecraft dilemma. The results show a tension between gender-neutral arguments versus arguments about women’s alleged special traits and qualifications. Arguments emphasizing the importance of women’s special capabilities for the well-being of society and companies’ profitability were at the heart of the quota legislation, and as such proved successful. However, the findings also demonstrate the risk that female candidates are viewed as a signal of change in times of crisis. Hence, we claim that arguments matter; although women-centred arguments have contributed to gender balance within the Icelandic economy, they may also create barriers for women because they support patriarchal relations. Furthermore, the results indicate that societal difficulties call for drastic changes, and it seems as though a tailwind is needed for women to receive opportunities within the economic sector to push gender equality forward.

How Do You Take Time? Work-Life Balance Policies versus Neoliberal, Social and Cultural Incentive Mechanisms in Icelandic Higher Education.

It is suggested that the realization of work–life balance policies at the University of Iceland is compromised by an emphasis on neoliberal notions of growth and performance measurements in the form of new public management strategies. This is sustained by overt and covert incentive mechanisms, which in turn create a range of different gendered implications for academic staff. The results from semi-structured interviews suggest that while this tension field affects all academic staff, it is generally less favourable to women than to men. If women were granted time for the sake of family obligations, they risked a setback in their academic career due to decreased research activity. Women tended to view academic flexibility as an opportunity to engage in domestic responsibilities more so than men; and male interviewees tended to view the prioritization of family as a choice, while women tended to view it as a condition.

Elites in Iceland – homogeneity and internal relationships

Iceland has generally been characterized as a nation where social and economic equality are prominent, and where elite structures are relatively unimportant. There are, however, indications that elites exist, and futhermore, that they are becoming more pronounced and that inequality is on the rise. The goal of this paper is to analyze the business and commerce elite in Iceland the years 2014 and 2015, based on its relations with other elite groups and relations within the group. This allows conclusions to be drawn about the openness of the elite, its relations with the populace, and the democratic structures of the group. The analysis utilizes two data sets: Power and Democracy – A Study of Elites, and Gender Equality in Business: Evolution and Influence. Graphical analysis of elite structures was performed using R and igraph. The results indicate various internal relationship structures within the business and commerce elite. Residential homogeneity is prevalent, especially among male and older elites. A top management team member’s participation in politics or organized sports is predictive of greatly increased residential homogeneity in his or her team. The results suggest a layered elite structure and gaps in elite-populace relations. This indicates that it is important to consider the democratic structures of the Icelandic business elite and whether its homogeneity affects decision making within the elite.