Mer feminism i utrikespolitiken? - En jämförande analys av Sveriges utrikespolitik före och efter deklarationen av den feministiska utrikespolitiken

In 2014, Sweden became the first country to promote and implement what became known as a “feminist foreign policy”. The concept was entirely new and was heavily discussed and questioned by both media and the international society at the time. This study seeks to explain whether the declaration of a feminist foreign policy agenda has brought any difference in the government’s policies. Is the foreign policy declared by Stefan Löfven’s government (2014-2018) more feminist than previous governments? This study aims to answer this question by investigating the foreign policy articulated by three separate governments leading up to and including the Löfven government. A comparison is then made to ascertain whether the declared feminist foreign policy actually brought on a higher degree of feminism in the foreign policy agenda or not. The research was carried out by using applied thematic analysis, together with this paper’s theoretical framework: feminist international relations theory and to a small degree foreign policy analysis. The material consists of public texts released by the governments, such as foreign policy declarations etc. In this study it is determined that feminism has existed in Sweden’s foreign policy even before the declaration, but, has been given a larger place in the foreign policy agenda after the declaration. Furthermore, the declaration has meant that women are, to a higher degree, explicitly mentioned in the foreign policy declarations