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GENDER AND POLITICS
SERIES EDITORS: JOHANNA KANTOLA · SARAH CHILDS
Feminisms in the Nordic Region

Neoliberalism, Nationalism and
Decolonial Critique
Edited by
Suvi Keskinen · Pauline Stoltz
Diana Mulinari
Gender and Politics
Series Editors
Johanna Kantola
University of Tampere
Tampere, Finland
Sarah Childs
Royal Holloway, University of London
Egham, UK
The Gender and Politics series celebrated its 7th anniversary at the 5th
European Conference on Politics and Gender (ECPG) in June 2017 in
Lausanne, Switzerland having published more than 35 volumes to date.
The original idea for the book series was envisioned by the series editors
Johanna Kantola and Judith Squires at the first ECPG in Belfast in 2009,
and the series was officially launched at the Conference in Budapest in
2011. In 2014, Sarah Childs became the co-editor of the series, together
with Johanna Kantola. Gender and Politics showcases the very best inter-
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and norms, policies, and political institutions. Set in European, US and
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research on these topics and beyond, and look for proposals on feminist
political theory; on recent political transformations such as the economic
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More information about this series at

http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/14998
Suvi Keskinen • Pauline Stoltz
Diana Mulinari
Editors
Feminisms in the
Nordic Region
Neoliberalism, Nationalism and Decolonial Critique
Editors
Suvi Keskinen Pauline Stoltz
Swedish School of Social Science Department of Politics and Society
University of Helsinki Aalborg University
Helsinki, Finland Aalborg, Denmark
Diana Mulinari
Department of Gender Studies
Lund University
Lund, Sweden
ISSN 2662-5814 ISSN 2662-5822 (electronic)

Gender and Politics
ISBN 978-3-030-53463-9 ISBN 978-3-030-53464-6 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-53464-6
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature
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Acknowledgements
The editors wish to thank all the contributors for their hard work and
patience in the making of this volume. We are especially grateful for being
able to include the dialogue ‘We should all be dreaming’ as the epilogue
of the book—thanks very much Maryan Abdulkarim and Sonya Lindfors!
We would also like to thank The Joint Committee for Nordic Research
Councils in Humanities and Social Sciences and the Nordic Council of
Ministers by means of Nordic Information on Gender for the generous
funding of the project ‘The Future of Feminisms in the Nordic Region’,
which ran between 2016 and 2017. This enabled us to organize three
workshops in Copenhagen, Lund and Oslo, which attracted a total of 48
participants from Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, the UK, the US,
Germany and Canada. The participants included activists, researchers and
researcher/activists. Thanks to everybody who participated in the work-
shops and inspired the discussions on the future of feminisms in the Nordic
region and beyond! Our special thanks go to the wonderful keynote lec-
turers Encarnación Gutiérrez Rodríguez, Rauna Kuokkanen, Chandra
Talpade Mohanty, Fakhra Salimi, Elizabeth Evans and Elisabeth Eide.
In addition to this edited volume, the network has produced individual
and collective publications, including the special issue ‘Feminism in the
Nordic region’ in the online international feminist journal Labrys, edited
by Beatrice Halsaa and Diana Mulinari. We wish to thank Beatrice for all
her work in the network and for organizing the workshop in Oslo, together
with her team at the University of Oslo.
v
vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Pauline would like to thank the administration at Aalborg University

for being of great assistance in applying for funding and helping to coor-
dinate the project, the network and the workshops. She would especially
like to thank Julie Skibsted Larsen, Marianne Ellersgaard, Anna Stegger
Gemzøe and Helene Møller Larsen. Diana would like to thank the staff
and researchers at the Department of Gender Studies at Lund University.
Suvi wishes to thank the researchers at The Centre for Research on Ethnic
Relations and Nationalism for the community of intellectual curiosity and
disobedient knowledge, as well as the Swedish School of Social Science at
the University of Helsinki for providing a supportive research environ-
ment. Suvi also wants to thank the Academy of Finland for funding that
enabled the work on this book (decisions 275032 and 316445).
Praise for Feminisms in the Nordic Region
“By bringing questions of migration, indigeneity and de-coloniality to the fore-

front of feminist investigations, this important collection provides original insights
into recent development of Nordic feminism. While situated in the Nordic coun-
tries, the volume will be of interest to anyone interested in how feminism has
responded to neoliberalism, right-wing populism and gender conservatism.
Significantly, the volume illustrates how new reconfigurations of solidarities can
exist across differences—also in a time of exclusionary nationalism and racism.”
—Rikke Andreassen, Professor of Culture and Media, Roskilde
University, Denmark
“This volume is a must-read for anyone interested in contemporary intersectional

feminisms. It is a timely and original collection, breaking new ground in the field
of gender and women* studies, critical migration and racism studies, Arctic indig-
enous studies, and design studies. The contributors critique the welfare state and
the co-optation of feminisms into neoliberal and right-wing politics from an anti-
racist feminist perspective. They decolonise Nordic feminism through highlighting
long-standing anti-colonial struggles by Sámi activists, connecting these to con-
temporary young Women of Color and Black feminist tactics of (dis)identification
and anti-racist feminist intersectional struggles in the Nordic Region.”
—Encarnación Gutiérrez Rodríguez, Professor and Chair in General Sociology,
Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Germany
“This vital collection addresses some of the most urgent questions facing feminists
in the Nordic region and beyond. How to decolonise feminism? How to respond
to the twin crises of neoliberalism and populism? How to resist racism and struc-
tural inequalities within the movement? This book provides unflinching analysis of
power dynamics within feminism but is underpinned by a politics of hope. It is a
must-read for those interested in the possibilities of feminist solidarity.”
—Elizabeth Evans, Reader in Politics, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK
Contents
1 Contextualising Feminisms in the Nordic Region:

Neoliberalism, Nationalism, and Decolonial Critique 1
Pauline Stoltz, Diana Mulinari, and Suvi Keskinen
2 Co-optation and Feminisms in the Nordic Region:

‘Gender-friendly’ Welfare States, ‘Nordic exceptionalism’
and Intersectionality 23
Pauline Stoltz
Part I Feminist Struggles over Gender Equality, Welfare and

Solidarity 45
3 Gender, Citizenship and Intersectionality: Contending

with Nationalisms in the Nordic Region 47
Birte Siim
4 Changing Feminist Politics in a ‘Strategic State’ 67

Anna Elomäki, Johanna Kantola, Anu Koivunen, and Hanna
Ylöstalo
5 ‘Danishness’, Repressive Immigration Policies and

Exclusionary Framings of Gender Equality 89
Christel Stormhøj
ix
x Contents
Part II Decolonising Feminisms in the Nordic Region 111
6 Nordic Academic Feminism and Whiteness as Epistemic

Habit113
Ulrika Dahl
7 Indigenising Nordic Feminism—A Sámi Decolonial

Critique135
Astri Dankertsen
8 Saami Women at the Threshold of Disappearance: Elsa

Laula Renberg (1877–1931) and Karin Stenberg’s
(1884–1969) Challenges to Nordic Feminism155
Stine H. Bang Svendsen
Part III Antiracism and Speaking the Truth to Power 177
9 “And They Cannot Teach Us How to Cycle”: The

Category of Migrant Women and Antiracist Feminism in
Sweden179
Diana Mulinari
10 Antiracist Feminism and the Politics of Solidarity in

Neoliberal Times201
Suvi Keskinen
11 Rethinking Design: A Dialogue on Anti-Racism and Art

Activism from a Decolonial Perspective223
Faith Mkwesha and Sasha Huber
12 Epilogue: We Should All Be Dreaming Vol. 3247

Maryan Abdulkarim and Sonya Lindfors
Index251
Notes on Contributors
Maryan Abdulkarim is a writer and active participant in social discourse

living in Helsinki, Finland. Abdulkarim and Eveliina Talvitie co-authored
the book Noin 10 myyttiä feminismistä (10 myths about feminism),
(2018). Abdulkarim formed the Silta collective together with Pauliina
Feodoroff. Abdulkarim investigates the potential of radical dreaming
in the ongoing project We Should All Be Dreaming with Sonya Lindfors.
She was born in Mogadishu, Somalia, and grew up in Tampere,
Finland.
Ulrika Dahl is a cultural anthropologist and professor of Gender Studies
at Uppsala University in Sweden. Her interests are feminist and queer
politics, critical race and whiteness studies, decolonial pedagogies,
femininity, affect, and queer kinship and reproduction. Among her
publications are the acclaimed books Femmes of Power: Exploding Queer
Femininities (with Del LaGrace Volcano, 2008), Skamgrepp: Femme-
inistiska essäer (2014) and The Geopolitics of Nordic and Russian Gender
Research 1975–2005 (with Ulla Manns and Marianne Liljeström). Her
articles have featured in Feminist Theory, Sexualities, New Formations,
Paragraph, NORA, Somatechnics and European Journal of Women’s
Studies, among other journals. Ulrika’s book project concerns queer
kinship, desire and the biopolitics of gender, race and nation
in Sweden.
xi
xii Notes on Contributors
Astri Dankertsen (Sámi/Norwegian), PhD, is an associate professor of

Sociology in the Faculty for Social Sciences at Nord University, where she
is a member of the research group for environmental studies, international
relations, northern studies and social security. Dankertsen is also the leader
of ELSA, Nord University’s network for ethnicity, gender equality and
equity, named after the Sámi activist and politician Elsa Laula Renberg.
She has worked on issues such as Sámi urbanization, Sámi melancholia,
Sámi identities, decolonization, Sámi youth organizations, Sámi feminism,
Indigenous perspectives and gender equality in academia. She is a deputy
member of the board of the Norwegian Sámi Association, and is also
board member of the Sálto sámesiebrre/Salten Sámi organization. She is
also an active politician and is city council member in Bodø, Norway.
Anna Elomäki is a senior researcher in Gender Studies at the Tampere
University. Her research interests include neoliberalization of gender
equality policy in Finland and in the EU, the gendered and de-
democratizing impacts of economic policies and governance, and feminist
politics. Her work has been published in Social Politics, Gender Work and
Organization and Journal of Common Market Studies, among others.
Sasha Huber (CH/FI) is a visual artist of Swiss-Haitian heritage, born in
Zurich, Switzerland in 1975. She lives and works with her family in
Helsinki, Finland. Huber’s work is primarily concerned with the politics of
memory and belonging, particularly in relation to colonial residue
left in the environment. Sensitive to the subtle threads connecting
history and the present, she uses and responds to archival material within
a layered creative practice that encompasses performance-based interven-
tions, video, photography and collaborations. She holds an MA from the
University of Art and Design Helsinki. Presently Huber is undertaking
practice-based PhD studies in the Department of Art and Media at the
Zurich University of the Arts. Alongside her practice, Huber edited the
book Rentyhorn (2010) and was co-editor (with Maria P.T. Machado) of
(T)races of Louis Agassiz: Photography, Body and Science, Yesterday and
Today (2010) on the occasion of the 29th Biennale of São Paulo. In 2018
Huber was the recipient of the State Art Award in the category visual arts
given by the Arts Promotion Center Finland.
Johanna Kantola is Professor of Gender Studies in the Faculty of Social
Sciences, Tampere University. She is the PI of the ERC Consolidator
Grant project Gender, Democracy and Party Politics in Europe
Notes on Contributors xiii
(2018–2023). She is the author of various monographs and edited books

including Gender and Political Analysis (with Emanuela Lombardo,
Palgrave Macmillan, 2017), Gender and the Economic Crisis in Europe
(edited with Emanuela Lombardo, Palgrave Macmillan, 2017), and The
Oxford Handbook on Gender and Politics (edited with Georgina Waylen,
Karen Celis and Laurel Weldon).
Suvi Keskinen is Professor of Ethnic Relations and Nationalism at the
Swedish School of Social Science, University of Helsinki, Finland. She is
working with a research project on postethnic activism and leading a
larger project on intersectional border struggles and disobedient
knowledge in activism. Keskinen has studied right-wing populism,
public debates on migration and racism, ethnic/racial profiling and
gendered violence. She has published several books and edited Special
Issues, as well as journal articles in, for example, Social Politics, Nordic
Journal of Migration Research, Critical Social Policy, Social Identities and
Journal of Intercultural Studies.
Anu Koivunen is Professor of Gender Studies in the Faculty of Social
Science at Tampere University, on leave of absence from professorship in
the Department of Media Studies at Stockholm University. She is the PI
of Academy of Finland consortium Flows of power—media as site and
agent of politics (2019–2022). She is the co-editor of The Power of
Vulnerability: Mobilizing Affect in Feminist, Queer and Anti-racist Media
Cultures (2018) and The Nordic Economic, Social and Political Model:
Challenges in the 21st Century (forthcoming).
Sonya Lindfors is a Helsinki-based choreographer and artistic director
who also works in the areas of facilitating, community organizing and
education. In 2013, she received an MA in choreography from the
University of the Arts Helsinki. She is the founding member and Artistic
Director of UrbanApa, an inter-disciplinary and counter-hegemonic arts
community that offers a platform for new discourses and feminist art prac-
tices. Lindfors’s recent stage works ‘We Should All Be Dreaming’ (2018),
‘COSMIC LATTE’ (2018) and ‘Soft Variations’ (2019) centralize ques-
tions around blackness and otherness, black body politics, representation
and decolonial dreaming practices. Lindfors has been awarded several
prizes, the latest of which being the international Live Art Anti Prize
2018. During the season 2017–2018 Lindfors was the house choreogra-
pher for Zodiak—The Center for New Dance.
xiv Notes on Contributors
Faith Mkwesha is a researcher and lecturer at the Swedish School of

Social Science, University of Helsinki, Finland. Her PhD is on representa-
tion of gender and the nation in Zimbabwe, and African literature and
culture from a postcolonial perspective, from Stellenbosch University,
South Africa. Her research interests are literary, cultural and African
studies from decolonial, postcolonial, black feminist and gender per-
spectives. She is a social justice activist who founded the black femi-
nist organization Sahwira Africa International, and is the Executive
Director of Sahwira Africa International Cultural Centre in Finland.
She conducts anti-racism activism, launching online petitions to
influence policy and initiate discussions on representation and racism.
She is a Zimbabwean living and working in Finland. She was born in
Zimbabwe, and worked in universities in Zimbabwe and South Africa.
Diana Mulinari is Professor of Gender Studies at Lund University,
Sweden. Her research interests centre on issues of gender, inequality and
visions of gender justice (and resistance to these visions). Central to
Mulinari’s research is to understand how gender and sexuality, class and
‘race’/ethnicity do the social and make the political at the crossroads of
personal lives: diverse forms of belonging and national and transna-
tional institutions. Questions of colonial legacies, Global North /
Global South relations (with special focus on Latin America) and
racism, as well as the diversified forms of resistance to and organiza-
tion of old and new forms of power, have stayed with her through all
the work she has done.
Birte Siim is Professor Emeritus, Aalborg University, Denmark. Her
recent publications include ‘The Politics and Act of Solidarity: The Case
of Trampoline House in Copenhagen’ in Baban, F and Rykiel K (eds)
Fostering Pluralism through Solidarity Activism in Europe: Everyday
Encounters with Newcomers (forthcoming with S. Meret); ‘Inclusive
Political Intersections of Migration, Race, Gender and Sexuality—
The Cases of Austria and Denmark’ in NORA. Nordic Journal of
Gender and Feminist Research, 2019 (with B. Sauer); Citizens’ Activism
and Solidarity Movements: Contending with Populism (ed. with
A. Saarinen and A. Krasteva), Palgrave Macmillan, 2018; Diversity
and Contestation over Nationalism in Europe and Canada (ed. with
J-E. Fossum and R. Kastoryano), Palgrave Macmillan, 2018;
‘Gendering European welfare states and citizenship—revisioning
inequalities’, in P. Kennett and N. Lendvai-Benton (eds.); and Handbook
of European Social Policy, 2017 (with A. Borchorst).
Notes on Contributors xv
Pauline Stoltz is an associate professor in the Department of Politics and

Society and a member of the FREIA Center for Gender Research at
Aalborg University in Denmark. She holds a PhD in political science from
Lund University and an associate professorship (docent) in political
science from Malmö University, both in Sweden. Between 2013 and
2015, she was Chief Editor of Nora—Nordic Journal of Feminist and
Gender Research, and she is Editor of the Gendering Asia book series at
NIAS Press. She was Coordinator of the network on The Future of
Feminisms in the Nordic Region (2016–2017). Recent publications
include the monograph Gender, resistance and transnational memories of
violent conflicts (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020) and, together with
Beatrice Halsaa and Christel Stormhøj, a book chapter on
‘Generational conflict and the politics of inclusion in two feminist
events’ in Elizabeth Evans and Eléonore Lépinard, eds., Intersectionality
in Feminist and Queer Movements: Confronting Privileges (2019).
Christel Stormhøj PhD, is a sociologist and associate professor in the
Department of Social Sciences and Business and the Center for Gender,
Power and Diversity, Roskilde University, Denmark. Her major fields of
research include feminist and queer theory, citizenship and social justice
from a gender, sexuality and migration perspective; feminist and LGBTQ
activism and politics; social critique; and the religion/secularity
divide. She is involved in research projects on feminist activism and
changing conditions for identity formation in the Nordic region and
on threats against democracy and civil rights (minority and women’s
rights) in Europe.
Stine H. Bang Svendsen is Associate Professor at the Norwegian
University for Science and Technology, Department of Teacher Education.
Her academic background is in gender and cultural studies, and her work
focuses on race and racism, and gender and sexuality in education and its
cultural contexts. Her work engages with the decolonizing options in
basic and higher education.
Hanna Ylöstalo is a senior lecturer in Sociology in the Department of
Social Research at the University of Turku, Finland. Her research interests
include neoliberalization of the Nordic welfare state, gendered economy—
society relations, and work and organizations. She has published her
work in a range of journals including Policy & Politics, Critical Sociology
and International Feminist Journal of Politics.
List of Figures
Fig. 11.1 Faith Mkwesha during a demonstration in front of the Plan

International office in Helsinki. 7.5.2018. (Photo: Sasha
Huber. © Sasha Huber, re-used here with kind permission) 236
Fig. 11.2 Huber, Sasha & Suukko, Petri Saarikko, 2015. (© Sasha
Huber and Petri Saarikko, re-used here with kind permission) 238
Fig. 11.3 Sasha Huber, “Strange Fruit”, installation with 200
pineapples, 2011. (© Sasha Huber, re-used here with kind
permission)240
xvii
CHAPTER 1
Contextualising Feminisms in the Nordic

Region: Neoliberalism, Nationalism,
and Decolonial Critique
Pauline Stoltz, Diana Mulinari, and Suvi Keskinen
Elle Marja: [to Njenna] ‘Don’t yoik at school…’.

Sami Blood (2016)
Khaled: ‘Listen. I fell in love with Finland’.

The Other Side of Hope (2017)
Sámi Blood [Sameblod] (2016) is a Swedish film, written and directed

by Amanda Kernell.
P. Stoltz (*)
Department of Politics and Society, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark
e-mail: stoltz@dps.aau.dk
D. Mulinari
Department of Gender Studies, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
e-mail: diana.mulinari@genus.lu.se
S. Keskinen
Swedish School of Social Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
e-mail: suvi.keskinen@helsinki.fi
© The Author(s) 2021 1

S. Keskinen et al. (eds.), Feminisms in the Nordic Region, Gender
and Politics, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-53464-6_1
2 P. STOLTZ ET AL.
The Sámi are the only recognised Indigenous people in Europe, and
they live in Norway, Sweden, Finland, and the Kola Peninsula in Russia.
The first aforementioned quote is from a moment in the film Sámi Blood
[Sameblod] when 14-year-old Elle-Marja and her younger sister Njenna
attend a nomad school in the 1930s—this is a boarding school for Sámi
children. Here, a Swedish teacher teaches the children Swedish, and lets
them know their place in Swedish society. A ‘yoik’ or ‘joik’ is a traditional
form of song in Sámi music. To speak Sámi—or, as Elle-Marja explains to
her sister, to yoik at school—will result in beatings which need to be
avoided.
Amanda Kernell found inspiration for the film in her memories of sto-
ries by her grandmother. The film follows the character of Elle-Marja
(who later calls herself Christina), as she navigates Swedish assimilationist
education policies for Sámi children. The children are taught Swedish but
refused higher education due to racist policies that position them as infe-
rior. Additionally, Elle-Marja has to deal with her family and the Sámi
community’s expectations about her behaviour. In other words, the film
questions the relation between indigenous rights as human rights and the
human right to education for Sámi children on the one hand, and on the
other, how Swedish colonial policies have impacted Sámi peoples. It does
this by describing and considering what happens to Ella-Marja’s hope for
a just and equal future as we move through the 1930s to the beginning of
this century.
In the Finnish film The Other Side of Hope (2017), directed by Aki
Kaurismäki, Syrian refugee Khaled applies for asylum in Finland, but hides
in a restaurant, after his asylum application has been denied. However,
Waldemar, the restaurant owner, offers him both a job and refuge, and
helps him look for his missing sister. Waldemar shows a form of solidarity,
in contrast to the racist thug who nearly stabs Khaled to death. Similar to
the aforementioned film and quote, there is a tension between hope and
despair, and between solidarity and profound self-interest.
The politics of hope and solidarity are two recurring themes in this
edited volume about feminisms in the Nordic region. The book is the
result of a Nordic network on ‘The Future of Feminisms in the Nordic
Region’ (2016–2017). Five Nordic universities—Aalborg University
(Department of Politics and Society/FREIA), Lund University (Centre
for Gender Studies), University of Oslo (Centre for Gender Research),
Roskilde University (Department of Society and Globalisation), and
University of Turku (Department of Sociology)—received funding from
1 CONTEXTUALISING FEMINISMS IN THE NORDIC REGION… 3
NOS-HS and the Nordic Council of Ministers/NIKK) to organise a series

of workshops. Coordinated by Pauline Stoltz, Suvi Keskinen, Diana
Mulinari, Beatrice Halsaa, and Christel Stormhøj, these workshops gath-
ered a diverse group of participants who were encouraged to identify and
discuss the commonalities and specificities of feminist movements in the
Nordic countries; the present status of state feminism (Hernes 1987); and
the transnational relations within feminist communities.
How, we ask, do feminist movements react to global crises such as the
economic crisis of the last decade, with its roots in neoliberal capitalism,
and austerity politics as its initial outcome? How do feminist movements
position themselves in the face of the rise of right-wing populism and the
extreme right movements that have flourished in the last two decades in
Europe? We might also add among the crises of our times the others inevi-
tably appearing in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic that is unfolding
at the time of writing. How do feminist movements react to increasing
gender and class inequalities, and blatant racism? Which challenges are
faced by feminist movements and feminist activism in other social move-
ments, such as antiracist and indigenous movements, in the Nordic coun-
tries today?
The Nordic gender political landscape has changed dramatically from
the 1930s of the film Sámi Blood to the 2010s of The Other Side of Hope.
The institutionalisation of parts of the feminist movement and the wom-
en’s movements in the Nordic countries (and globally) has made central
questions around relevant strategies of cooperation, the risks of coopta-
tion, and what forms of resistance to state and international organisations
should be prioritised by feminist politics and research.
Topics regarding sexuality, ethnicity, race, citizenship, and religion have
moved from being peripheral to (most) feminist movements to being at
the centre of politics. This has transformed the political landscape in the
Nordic region. Antiracist, queer, and transgender activists have expressed
the need to rethink gender, racial, and sexual politics. Gender politics
regarding care, power, and resources need to be reformulated to consider
more carefully the intersection of gender with different axes of inequalities
(see Siim and Stoltz 2015; Stormhøj 2015; Nyhagen Predelli and Halsaa
2012; de los Reyes and Mulinari 2005; Keskinen et al. 2009). In other
words, these new contexts involve challenges for the strategies and ideas of
feminist movements in the Nordic countries as regards ideas about hope,
solidarity, gender equality, and social justice, both at home and abroad.
4 P. STOLTZ ET AL.
Feminisms in the Nordic Region and Beyond

Many of the questions we discussed in the network were not unique to the
Nordic region. It is, for example, difficult to claim that austerity politics in
the aftermath of the 2008 economic crisis strengthened neoliberalism
(Perugini et al. 2019), and that rising trends of populism and nationalism
are typical Nordic phenomena. We recognise resistance to feminism in the
Nordic region today (e.g. Keskinen 2013; Mulinari and Neergaard 2014;
Svendsen 2015) that is commensurate with other parts of the world. Graff
et al. (2019) engage in discussions about the role of cultural understand-
ings of gender and sexuality as articulated by the ‘global Right’. They
identify similar trends in different parts of the world, arguing that anti-
feminism is a central value of the global Right, and essential to how it
mobilises support. Other researchers have pointed out the need to differ-
entiate between the intertwined processes of neoliberalism, right-wing
populism, and gender conservatism, as well as to identify more clearly the
influence of different actors and their diverse agendas (Verloo 2018;
Verloo and Paternotte 2018; Paternotte and Kuhar 2018).
However, there is little comparative exploration of how resistance to
feminism or interpretations of gender equality work in different contexts
across the Nordic region (but see Stoltz and Hvenegård-Lassen 2013).
We could potentially relate such studies of anti-feminism to studies which
situate feminisms as hegemonic over time, and analyse whether anti-
feminism targets all feminists, or isolates and scapegoats specific types of
feminisms, such as antiracist, postcolonial, or queer feminism.
While we have not conducted systematic investigations, a quick look at
the publications in Nordic gender studies journals and the programmes of
Nordic gender studies conferences indicates that antiracist, postcolonial,
indigenous, and queer feminisms have (together with masculinity studies)
become a central part of feminist themes and narratives in the early 2020s.
This implies a clear change compared to, say, the 1970s or the 1990s,
although the situation and the timespan of how feminisms have developed
in the Nordic countries differ to some extent. The contributions in this
book bear witness to the same trend, with questions of migration, (anti)
racism, and (de)coloniality being placed at the forefront in most of the
chapters.
The strong emphasis on questions of migration, (anti)racism, indigene-
ity, and (de)coloniality can be interpreted as a sign of changing feminist
narratives, and the hegemonies embedded in and upheld through them.
The use of the notion of hegemonic feminism identifies the power to

define the narratives of feminist and women’s movements, and suggests
that we can understand such hegemonic narratives through the perspec-
tive of intersectional inequalities and narrative struggles amongst a multi-
plicity of narratives (Stoltz 2020). In the period between the 1960s and
1990s, often referred to as feminism’s second wave, hegemonic feminist
narratives in the Nordic region marginalised the narratives of antiracist
feminists, queer and trans* feminists, and indigenous feminists. This in
turn limited the space for other feminist knowledges and politics, as well
as hindering possibilities for seeing other worlds. Additionally, such hege-
monic narratives narrowed feminist visions to (binary) gender equality
frames that were often grounded in a subordination to capitalist market
logics (through normative understandings of the emancipatory capacity of
paying women for some forms of labour), and the transformation of men
taking some responsibility for care work.
In understanding feminism as a floating signifier (Davis and Evans
2016), in this volume we seek to explore how feminism as an idea, a proj-
ect, and a community of belonging is produced and given meaning by
actors inside and outside of feminisms, but also, how feminism is acted
upon in different contexts in the Nordic region. This could also be of
interest for those outside of the region, since there might be similarities
and differences between different parts of the world. What, after all, do we
know about the narratives, ideas, identities, discourses, mobilisations,
strategies, disagreements, and solidarities of feminists in the Nordic region
over time? What do we know of their current hopes for the future?
Participants in the workshops of the network have written the chapters
in this book after having been encouraged by the editors to write about
what they felt to be important. As a result, we examine how feminist proj-
ects and movements seek to find new forms and redevelop agendas, and
we highlight the different orientations, dilemmas, and tactics of feminisms
in the Nordic region. The contributions investigate how feminism is artic-
ulated within neoliberal policies and economic practices, but also how it
provides a basis for resistance to such processes and rationalities. We anal-
yse how feminist ideas, identities, and movements intertwine with notions
of race, racism, racialised class inequalities, and nationalism; we ask what
kinds of demands for decolonising feminist knowledges and politics are
enunciated, and how they are presented in and outside academia. The
chapters detect ongoing processes and topics of dispute within feminist
projects and movements, and trace their journeys through cross-movement
mobilisations.
6 P. STOLTZ ET AL.
Situating Feminisms in the Nordic Region

We agree with Verloo and Paternotte (2018) that feminist research should
aim at situating, contextualising, and localising analyses, while simultane-
ously seeking to develop theoretical and methodological tools to make
sense of transnational and global tendencies. The analysis by Paternotte
and Kuhar (2018) draws attention to the different political actors promot-
ing anti-gender ideologies and politics in Europe, identifying the main
groups as the conservative right, the Catholic Church, and right-wing
populism, all of which have their specific agendas and wield different
impacts, depending on their national contexts. They also show how his-
torical trajectories and political traditions in Central and East Europe,
South Europe, and North-West Europe result in diverse coalitions and
agents in anti-gender campaigns. In turn, Gutiérrez Rodríguez, Tuzcu,
and Winkel point out how struggles against anti-genderism and protests
against austerity measures in Europe seem to unfold in parallel, but with-
out referring to each other. We agree with them that this is unfortunate,
since debates on anti-genderism and anti-austerity have underestimated
the dimension of racism in shaping gender relations and processes of capi-
tal formation (Gutiérrez Rodríguez et al. 2018, p. 140).
Given the variety of discussions and concepts in international research
literature (e.g. Eriksson 2013; Graff et al. 2019; Verloo and Paternotte
2018; Corredor 2019), the contributions in this book do not adopt one
specific theoretical approach or seek to provide a premeditated under-
standing of how gender relates to neoliberalism, nationalism, and coloni-
ality. Instead, the writers draw on different traditions and concepts to (1)
explore the different meanings given to the concepts; (2) elaborate on the
bridges different scholars provide; and (3) locate these understandings
within the transformation of the ‘Nordic welfare model’ and feminisms in
the Nordic region.
The contributions both support and question the argument of Verloo
and Paternotte (2018) that the current political situation in Europe is
characterised by increasing polarisations in politics, and an increased politi-
cisation of gender and sexuality. It is evident that polarisations are visible
in mainstream politics and media discourses, but the narratives of antira-
cist feminists and indigenous feminists in this volume point towards sev-
eral continuities in the structures and processes of both oppression and
resistance. The mobilisation and resurgence of racialised and minoritised
subjects and indigenous peoples also develop through their own logics,
and how the movements create alliances across differences is not always
dependent on or reflective of the polarisation trends in broader society.
Internationally, the Nordic countries are well known for their strong
(binary) gender equality policies, state feminism, and the ‘Nordic welfare
model’ (Hernes 1987; Borchorst and Siim 2002; Melby et al. 2008; Siim
and Skjeie 2008). Often, gender equality rankings—such as the Global
Gender Gap index (GGG)—are employed in the politics of reputation of
nation states, and turned into nation branding; the Nordic countries are
often amongst the highest-ranking nation states. Taking Iceland as her
starting point, Einarsdóttir (2020) recently argued that this is a flawed
exercise, since the definition of gender equality that can be derived from
the GGG index is a narrow one. It is based on selective data and sophisti-
cated calculations, which incorrectly give the impression of scientific accu-
racy. Moreover, the rankings of countries are often interpreted in a shallow
and superficial way, particularly when it comes to the top-performing
country. The public relations potential—which the ranking offers the best-
performing countries—enables and facilitates nation branding in ways that
can be unfortunate (Einarsdóttir 2020, p. 9).
The authors in this volume argue in different ways that such regional
branding is based on national identities developed around being the
‘good’ and ‘successful’ agents of globalisation, combining idea(l)s of egal-
itarianism and support for women’s rights ‘at home’ with images of being
the progressive bearers of human rights and peace-building in the Global
South. Several scholars have critically examined such branding and self-
images as ‘Nordic exceptionalism’ (e.g. Loftsdóttir and Jensen 2012;
Sawyer and Habel 2014), while others have sought to identify ignored
colonial histories—conceptualised as ‘colonial complicity’—and their
implications for the racial structures and cultural imaginaries of today’s
Nordic societies (e.g. Keskinen et al. 2009; McEachrane 2014; Höglund
and Burnett 2019; Andreassen and Ahmed-Andresen 2014).
In recent decades, social conflicts over the meaning of citizenship,
nationhood, and belonging have increased, and their racialised elements
have become more visible. Postcolonial feminists have highlighted how
notions of gender equality are frequently used to define boundaries
between those who belong to the nation and those who do not (de los
Reyes et al. 2002; Keskinen et al. 2009; Martinsson and Mulinari 2018;
Keskinen 2018). At the core of these discourses lies a projection of ‘bad’
patriarchies tethered to distant places and to racialised bodies. Since the
1960s, the Nordic countries have constructed their national identities on
8 P. STOLTZ ET AL.
notions of humanitarianism, gender equality, and egalitarianism. The ten-

sions between rhetoric and practices in the implementation of these
notions can be grasped today in the shifts towards increasingly repressive
and strict migration and refugee policies, and in the systematic forms
through which, on the one hand, a division of labour is racialised, and on
the other, how urban segregation follows racialised class lines. Several
public policies in the region based on the notion of ‘risk groups’ have been
developed during recent years. These specifically target racialised women
through assumed cultural differences. These policies also increase the
criminalisation of racialised men, while simultaneously silencing issues of
poverty, institutional racism, and exclusion.
Feminism, Neoliberalism, Nationalism,

and Decolonial Critique
The Nordic welfare regime has gone through considerable changes in

recent decades as a result of neoliberal policies—and to a certain extent,
austerity measures. The welfare state and its future is a central feminist
question due to the large number of women working in the public sector
and the redistribution of wealth and care that it has provided. There are
different positions among feminists in relation to how feminists should
understand and respond to the establishment of neoliberal policies as part
of gender and welfare regimes. We contend that different groups of femi-
nists give diverse and even antagonistic meanings to the crisis of the Nordic
models of gender and welfare, which are further examined in this book.
Neoliberalism is a contested concept, and scholars in the anthology use
it in diverse ways. Some of them do not use it at all, or limit how and when
it is used, because they consider the term as having lost its strength as an
analytical tool. Our understanding of neoliberalism bridges the fields of
political economy (e.g. Harvey 2005) and cultural studies (e.g. Gill and
Scharff 2011); we offer a reading of neoliberalism as a societal vision that
features the market and its profits as fundamental principles for social
organisation. While the shift towards neoliberal economic policies and cul-
tures has happened globally, and had already begun in some parts of the
world at the end of the 1970s and 1980s, its impact began to be felt in the
Nordic region in the 1990s. In the Nordic region, a specific and powerful
ideological shift has been identified in public discourse, from prioritising
notions of solidarity and rights, towards fostering a binary opposition
between successful (productive) citizens and those identified as a burden

to the welfare state (e.g. Keskinen 2016). Central to this transformation is
a radical decrease in the redistributive ability of the state—class (and par-
ticularly racialised class) inequalities have increased in profound ways
(Therborn 2018).
Ethno-nationalists provide an explanation of the crisis of the welfare
state that moves away from the neoliberal policies that they support,
towards the construction of migrants as a threat to the nation (e.g. Norocel
2017; Keskinen 2016). Gender—or rather (binary) gender equality—
played an essential role in this articulation. Fundamental to the construc-
tion of the ‘dangerous other’ is the construction not only of homogenous
Nordic nation states (Keskinen et al. 2019), but also of a homogenous
women’s movement with similar agendas and demands. These emerging
feminist voices have identified a decoupling of gender equality from femi-
nism that makes it possible to be in favour of gender equality (both in a
neoliberal and ethno-nationalist sense) while at the same time being
against feminism as a transnational project of social justice (Martinsson
and Mulinari 2018).
A key area to which the anthology Feminisms in the Nordic Region aims
to make an original contribution is in studying the intersections between
feminism, neoliberalism, and ethno-nationalism. At the core of these ten-
sions are public debates about the relation between gender equality and
multiculturalism, and about women’s rights and respect for cultural diver-
sity. In order to understand the rapid rise of right-wing populism and
increasingly aggressive anti-immigration online campaigns that capitalise
on racist and exclusionary nationalism, it is important to contextualise
them in the long histories of racial and colonial power relations embedded
in the Nordic societies. Consequently, a second contribution concerns
these relationships, and we make the link between antiracism and decolo-
nising critiques of feminisms, as well as linking the struggles of migrant
and refugee persons to those of indigenous activists, placing these in the
sightlines of changing hegemonic forms of feminism throughout
the region.
Nordic researchers have identified a variety of movements that resist
racism and European border control policies, best exemplified by the ‘ref-
ugees welcome’ movements and mobilisations against racism and neo-
Nazism (Ålund et al. 2017; Seikkula 2019). Beside these more high-profile
forms of social protest, everyday struggles against ethnic discrimination
and segregation have diversified in both form and content (Schierup et al.
10 P. STOLTZ ET AL.
2006). These heterogeneous but vital responses embody not only a resis-
tance against racism, but an extension of visions, strategies, and practices
towards social inclusion and solidarity, which cultural theorist Paul Gilroy
would grasp through the concept of conviviality (Stoltz et al. 2019; Gilroy
2004). As the contributions in this volume illustrate, within such everyday
resistances and new movements, the emerging forms of feminism play a
central role.
Inspired by a number of feminist interventions (Funk 2013; Bhandar
and Ferreira da Silva 2013), we argue that the analyses presented in this
book challenge political philosopher Nancy Fraser’s historical narrative—
that locates the feminist movements in Western Europe and North
America—as legitimating neoliberalism (Fraser 2013). Larger—although
not all—sections of feminist, queer, and women’s movements in the
Nordic region have defended and supported the social-democratic-
inspired Nordic model of welfare and equality (Esping-Andersen 1990)
against neoliberal discourses and practices.
While it can be argued that feminisms in the Nordic region have been
fractured by a number of theoretical and political debates regarding rac-
ism, sexuality, and the binary categorisations of women and men, there has
existed a deep recognition of the need to defend and expand the Nordic
model amongst most groups of feminists. Furthermore, we would like to
challenge Fraser’s classification of contemporary feminism as marginalis-
ing issues of redistribution: in the Nordic context, both antiracist and
queer feminists link redistribution and recognition in diverse ways, in soli-
darity with refugees, and when addressing increasingly precarious forms of
employment.
Following a number of feminist critiques of Fraser’s model, we ques-
tion her assumption of a homogenous feminist movement during the
1970s. Both lesbian and migrant women were highly present in the femi-
nist struggles in the Nordic region, even if their voices—as well as those of
indigenous feminists and trans* activists—were excluded in the genealo-
gies of ‘Nordic feminism’ (Dahl et al. 2016). These issues are of central
concern to at least parts or sections of the feminist movements in the
Nordic region. They emphasise the aforementioned point: that dimen-
sions of racism in shaping gender relations and processes of capital forma-
tion are important to investigate (Gutiérrez Rodríguez et al. 2018,
p. 140), perhaps especially in the context of the situated links that can or
cannot be made between feminism, neoliberalism, nationalism, and colo-
nialism in the Nordic region.
Feminist Politics of Solidarity and Hope

Metaphors, concepts, or discourses of ‘woman/women’ or ‘gender-
friendly’ welfare states have indicated a form of feminist success, since they
imply that the collaboration has led to high levels of gender equality
(Hernes 1987). Feminist scholars and activists have, as indicated, at the
same time felt ambiguous about the analytical depth behind such ‘gender-
friendliness’. Postcolonial, antiracist, and indigenous feminists have been
critical of the widespread claims that the Nordic nation states are world
champions when it comes to gender equality, democratisation, and egali-
tarianism, while simultaneously claiming to be exempt from the histories
of imperialism and colonialism in Europe that have influenced the forma-
tion of national identities (Keskinen et al. 2009; Loftsdóttir and Jensen
2012; Garner 2014), and which is also discussed as ‘Nordic exceptional-
ism’. Critics of ‘women-friendly’ welfare states and ‘Nordic exceptional-
ism’ often emphasise the usefulness of intersectional approaches to the
study of inequalities and privileges in the Nordic region, and in feminist
mobilisations, discourses, ideas, and projects.
These ambiguous feelings about the relations between states and social
movements make co-optation a fundamental question. Consequently,
after this introduction, Pauline Stoltz will in her chapter address feminisms
in the Nordic region from the perspective of co-optation research. Starting
from a perspective critical of ‘gender-friendly’ welfare states, ‘Nordic
exceptionalism’, and different uses of intersectional approaches, Stoltz
presents a two-dimensional approach to the study of co-optation. She
defines co-optation as the controversial politics of inclusion and exclusion,
and stresses the importance of disentangling the analytical from more nor-
mative political dimensions in the study of co-optation. There is nothing
inherently wrong with controversies, she argues, but it can be productive
to uncover the complexities of controversies in order to find better strate-
gies for feminist struggles for social justice and equality. In other words, a
careful consideration of the nuances of controversies—especially amongst
potential allies—is a prerequisite for a politics of hope.
The production of hope is a necessary part of political struggles that
seek to create social change, while also being crucial for the development
of communities that enable a coming together and practising of solidarity
(Martinsson and Mulinari 2018). This way of understanding the politics
of solidarity draws attention to the process of living with differences, and
12 P. STOLTZ ET AL.
questioning stable categorisations and presumed homogeneous cultures.

It not only refers to such notions spread in ethno-nationalist politics and
othering public discourses, but also the possible reifying of the ‘good’
radical subjects that can be created in feminist, antiracist, and trans* poli-
tics. We understand the politics of hope as living and working with the
messiness of everyday intersectional politics—and even enjoying it
(Gunaratnam 2003)—despite the controversies, conflicts, and disagree-
ments that are an essential part of living with differences and convivial
forms of life (Gilroy 2004). Hope is essential for feminist politics in times
characterised by the precarity of life and rising inequalities (de los Reyes
and Mulinari 2020), produced by neoliberal policies and exclusionary
nationalism.
The politics of hope and new reconfigurations of solidarities are also
needed to tackle the unequal division of resources and cultural traumas
resulting from the colonisation of indigenous lands, racial classifications,
and long-term assimilation policies that the Sámi people and ethnoracially
defined minorities, such as the Roma, were subjected to during the devel-
opment of the modern state. The production of a ‘homogeneous nation’
was achieved through repressive, marginalising, and assimilatory policies
towards these groups (Keskinen et al. 2019). While partly differing and
contextually specific, the state’s actions towards post-1960s migrants and
their children also bear similarities to current state policies and practices,
especially in this age of securitisation and ‘crimmigration’ policies. The
new politics of solidarity that Keskinen, Skaptadóttir, and Toivanen (ibid.)
argue for would seek reparations for such historically formed and current
inequalities, but also build on an understanding of the inequalities created
by neoliberal capitalism and its increasingly gendered and racialised class
structure. The new politics of solidarity would depart from an understand-
ing of social justice that acknowledges cultural and economic injustices, be
they the result of unequal global power relations, policies towards indig-
enous or minority groups with a long-term residence within the Nordic
region, or class structures. Such politics of solidarity could provide hope
for differently marginalised groups, and create visions of a more positive
future for society more broadly.
Feminist Struggles over Gender Equality, Welfare,

and Solidarity
This book is divided into three sections. In different ways, these continue
explorations of controversies around the politics of inclusion and exclu-
sion in relation to feminisms in the Nordic region, while putting neoliber-
alism, nationalism, and decolonial critique on the agenda when discussing
feminist strategies for the future.
The first section is entitled ‘Feminist struggles over gender equality,
welfare, and solidarity’. The three chapters in the section address how
Nordic welfare states continue to reinforce democratic deficits and exclu-
sions by means of public policies that benefit certain gendered groups
more than others. They pay specific attention to the actions and reactions
of feminist actors regarding austerity politics, new forms of governance,
and nationalisms in the wake of the financial crisis, and the crisis related to
the reception—or welcoming—of refugees in the 2010s and today.
The section starts with a chapter by Birte Siim, who addresses new
forms of ethno-nationalisms that are challenging gender equality and soli-
darity. Using theories on social movements, citizenship, and intersection-
ality, she analyses the conditions for citizens’ activism against racism,
discrimination, and ‘othering’ within the Scandinavian context. Focussing
on the Danish case, Siim analyses whether gender issues and feminist poli-
tics are part of antiracist strategies and claims of women activists, or if
gender is ‘forgotten’ along the road. How, we can wonder, can cross-
movement mobilisations foster inclusive solidarities against exclusionary
nationalisms?
The chapter by Anna Elomäki, Johanna Kantola, Anu Koivunen, and
Hanna Ylöstalo puts the shifting relationship between feminist politics and
the welfare state in 2010s Finland in focus. During this decade, efforts to
dismantle the welfare state in the name of austerity, marketisation initia-
tives, and competition policies intensified. By adopting a new form of gov-
ernance relations, they argue, the Finnish welfare state has moved in the
direction of becoming what they call a ‘strategic state’, in which economic
imperatives overrule other political concerns. This new form of gover-
nance refers to a particular form of neoliberal and managerial governance
that aims to make government decision-making processes strategic by nar-
rowing down policy objectives, and aligning them explicitly with fiscal
objectives. Elomäki and her colleagues show how this ‘strategic gover-
nance’ has also influenced the relations between feminists and the state.
14 P. STOLTZ ET AL.
This has resulted in the strengthening of so-called governance feminism,

as well as intersectional forms of feminism, amongst others.
The final chapter of the section, by Christel Stormhøj, explores how
and why the dominant politics of gender equality in Denmark defines
Muslim and migrant women as an anomaly in need of reform. By analys-
ing policies, party programmes, and interviews with representatives of
migrant women’s organisations on gender equality and integration,
Stormhøj reveals how neoliberal and right-wing ethno-nationalist parties
converge in exploiting gender-equality deficits for labour market, anti-
Muslim, and welfare-chauvinist interests, and demonstrates how these
organisations both resist and comply with these agendas. She shows how
the dominant politics of gender equality operates to assimilate and/or
exclude ‘the other’, and how the racialisation of gender-equality deficien-
cies serves strategic functions.
Decolonising Feminisms in the Nordic Region

The second section explores the contribution of scholars working at the
crossroads between decolonial and queer knowledge frames, with a special
focus on the production of feminist knowledges. The three chapters in this
section address feminist knowledge production and genealogies of Nordic
feminism. They bear witness to the need to decolonise feminist thinking,
narratives of political mobilisation, and understandings of gender. Building
on Black feminism, decolonial perspectives, and indigenous feminism, the
contributors provide a thorough investigation of the coloniality of knowl-
edge and power as it takes place in the Nordic region, with its specific
colonial histories and racial relations. The chapters highlight how colonial-
ity has enshrined a continued dependency on ways of thinking, dividing,
and making sense of the world that are based on the logics of Eurocentric
modernity (Tlostanova et al. 2019), but also how the ‘pluriversality’ of
knowledge (e.g. Reiter 2018) has always been an important part of femi-
nist projects, and continues to be so in the present.
Ulrika Dahl’s chapter contributes to the ongoing discussions about
Nordic academic feminism through an examination of whiteness as an
epistemic habit. It asks why and how this field continues to assume and
reproduce whiteness as its naturalised point of departure and orientation
when forming a Nordic feminist ‘we’. In a largely conceptual manner,
Dahl draws on a lived archive of 15 years of participant observation in
‘Nordic’ academic feminism as it has taken shape at conferences, in
network and research meetings, in classrooms, and within public debates.

Building on the work of Sara Ahmed, Sirma Bilge, Lena Sawyer, Marta
Cuesta, and Diana Mulinari, Dahl proposes that whiteness can be under-
stood as an epistemic habit of and within Nordic academic feminism. To
that end, the chapter sketches a framework for understanding how white-
ness is habitually and epistemically reproduced in broader logics of narra-
tion about the field, in forms of assembly, and in responses to critiques of
racism. Thus, whiteness is not simply a question of over-representation of
white bodies, it is also about the orientations and comfort of white bodies,
and about how some critiques and stories become understood as ‘ours’
and others not.
The chapter by Astri Dankertsen discusses how to make space for Sámi
feminist perspectives, within both Sámi research and Nordic feminist
research. The author explores how both patriarchal and colonial power
continue to shape the lives of Sámi women, and argues that there is a need
for a feminist decolonial critique that destabilises the taken for granted
silencing of Sámi women’s perspectives, in both Sámi research and Nordic
feminist research. Dankertsen argues that to do so, we need to move
beyond the traditional ways of defining feminist perspectives, and include
Indigenous perspectives on land, water, health, rights, and identities. This
will enable the highlighting of how it is possible to create a common
ground for both Sámi perspectives and feminist perspectives. The relative
lack of Sámi feminist perspectives is paradoxical, given the fact that both
intersectional and postcolonial perspectives have made an impact on femi-
nist research today. Sámi women are also increasingly educated, and hold
a strong position within both academia and activism, and within Sámi
society as a whole.
Stine Helena Bang Svendsen examines the challenges posed by Sámi
feminism to the hegemonic narratives of Nordic feminism. Examining the
work of two remarkable Sámi women activists—Elsa Laula Renberg and
Karin Stenberg—Svendsen argues for the need to recognise their knowl-
edges about the gendered nature of racism and colonialism. The chapter
argues that the pervasive absence of Sámi and Inuit contributions in
Nordic feminism should be regarded as an expression of the coloniality of
these projects, and that engaging seriously with the anti-colonial scholar-
ship proposed by authors such as Elsa Laula Renberg and Karin Stenberg
prompts the reconsideration of both key historical narratives of feminism
in the Nordic region and their foundational assumptions regarding gender
as a social phenomenon. In Svendsen’s analysis, the politics of gender
16 P. STOLTZ ET AL.
equality that is characteristic of Nordic feminism is seen as a threshold of

disappearance, under which the political projects of the colonised women
and the working-class women were erased from feminism.
Antiracism and Speaking the Truth to Power

The final section of the book engages with racial formations in the Nordic
countries, with a particular focus on contemporary processes of racialisa-
tion, and the diversity of ways through which these processes are identi-
fied, challenged, and acted upon by powerful feminist visions.
In recent decades, the forms of banal nationalism and femonational-
ism—which exist at the core of representations of the Nordic welfare
model, to the detriment of international solidarity and human rights—
have been challenged by two powerful social movements relevant to the
development of feminist theory in the region: the mobilisation of the Sámi
people in defence of land and water (see section II), and the mobilisation
of racialised migrants and refugees to obtain labour and citizenship rights.
While the notion of colonial complicity (Keskinen et al. 2009) challenged
the amnesia that denies the centrality of diverse forms of colonialism in the
development of the Nordic nation states, the notion of a ‘Nordic’ racial
formation provides a reading of the region that explores the role of the
category of race in the process of capital accumulation, and the establish-
ment of the Nordic welfare states, which have been shaped through the
over-exploitation of migrant labour forces within Global North and Global
South relations.
Suvi Keskinen’s point of departure is the establishment and expansion
of antiracist feminism in the last decade throughout the Nordic region,
with new groups, media sites, and public events organised, especially in
the large cities. The author examines antiracist feminist and queer of
colour activism in which the main or sole actors belong to groups racialised
as non-white or ‘others’ in Nordic societies. A fundamental argument
developed in this chapter is the central role and potential of these emerg-
ing social movements in the reconfiguring of political agendas and tack-
ling pressing societal issues, due to its capacity to overlap and connect the
borders of antiracist, feminist, and (to some extent) class-based politics.
Faith Mkwesha and Sasha Huber focus on feminist antiracist activism
from a decolonial perspective in the field of cultural production. The
authors analyse racialised and racist representations in Finland, and pro-
pose interventions from a decolonial perspective. They propose a number
of strategies in the field of representation to create non-stereotypical and

demeaning racist images, in order to challenge and transform positively
racialised representational practices.
Diana Mulinari explores continuity and change in the construction of
the category of migrant women in Sweden, suggesting both continuity
and radical changes in the Swedish racial formation regarding the shift of
location from subordinated inclusion within the social democratic welfare
regime to violent assimilation within the actual situation at the crossroads
between neoliberalism and ethno-nationalism. The author also analyses
the vital role that the category plays in the identity construction and politi-
cal agenda of young women with migrant backgrounds who identify
themselves as antiracist feminists.
The four authors included in this section have much in common. They
move fluently between theoretical arguments and political agendas, work-
ing within the tradition of intellectual activism (Collins 2019). Moreover,
they think through and reflect on a number of concepts relevant to the
analysis of feminist movements and feminist futures. Keskinen develops
the concept of ‘postethnic activism’ to refer to activism in which political
mobilisation is based on a shared understanding of being racialised and
classified as an outsider to the nation, despite often being born and/or
raised in the Nordic societies. She further argues for the usefulness of
theorising the neoliberal turn of racial capitalism as the societal condition
in which feminist activism takes place. Mkwesha and Huber read their
experience of Finland through concepts such as the white saviour com-
plex, white fragility, and racial illiteracy to grasp the specificity of the ways
through which racism is given meaning and acted upon. Mulinari argues
for the need to understand racism as a structural phenomenon, suggesting
a reading of the concept of intersectionality through an analysis of the
Swedish racial formation.
While the authors share a common epistemological frame and locate
themselves within similar theoretical traditions, their methodological
frames differ. Mulinari uses critical discourse analysis to examine the con-
struction and reproduction of the category of migrant women in Sweden,
while Keskinen works with both participant observation and in-depth
interviews in her critical dialogue with her research subjects. Mkwesha and
Huber develop an original methodological frame that combines a dia-
logue between the authors, testimonies of their experiences, and antiracist
political practices.
18 P. STOLTZ ET AL.
These four authors identify the central need to talk back (hooks
2015/1989) or to speak truth to power (Collins 2019). Keskinen’s care-
ful analysis of the narratives of postethnic activists speaks not only about
resistance, but also about the creation of new agendas and coalitions.
Mulinari comes to similar conclusions in her dialogue with antiracist activ-
ists of migrant backgrounds, challenging the category of migrant women,
and highlighting their ability to create forms of inclusive solidarity. Finally,
Mkwesha and Huber invite us to explore (and to participate in) antiracist
art practices that both deconstruct racist representations and create new
ways of defining the social. In other words, these three authors are deeply
inscribed within epistemologies of hope (de los Reyes and Mulinari 2020)
that acknowledge both the power of racial capitalism and heteropatriarchy,
and the power of the collective dreams evolving from the promises of anti-
racist feminisms in the Nordic countries.
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Films
Sami Blood [Sameblod] (2016)
The Other Side of Hope [Toivon tuolla puolen] (2017)
CHAPTER 2
Co-optation and Feminisms in the Nordic

Region: ‘Gender-friendly’ Welfare States,
‘Nordic exceptionalism’ and Intersectionality
Pauline Stoltz
The historical collaboration between the (welfare) state and social move-
ments in the Nordic region has made co-optation a fundamental question.
The tension between co-optation and social justice has been at the core of
empirical studies of such areas as labour movements and migrant organiza-
tions in Sweden, and there have been debates about the institutionaliza-
tion of the women’s movement in the Nordic region (Schierup et al.
2018; Bergqvist et al. 1999). However, it may come as a surprise that few
studies have explored feminisms in the Nordic region from the perspective
of the research field of co-optation.
This is unfortunate, since gender scholars both within and outside the
region have long argued for the fruitfulness of the nexus between different
types of democracy and gender and sexual equality (Rai 2003; Dahlerup
2006; Stoltz et al. 2010; Siim and Stoltz 2015; Liinason 2018).
P. Stoltz (*)
Department of Politics and Society, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark
e-mail: stoltz@dps.aau.dk
© The Author(s) 2021 23

S. Keskinen et al. (eds.), Feminisms in the Nordic Region, Gender
and Politics, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-53464-6_2
24 P. STOLTZ
‘Co-optation’ can capture the ambiguities that feminist scholars and activ-
ists can simultaneously express when considering persistent metaphors,
concepts or discourses of ‘woman/women-friendly’ or ‘gender-friendly’
welfare states (Hernes 1987; Stoltz et al. 2019; Kantola and Verloo 2018;
Siim and Stoltz 2015; Melby et al. 2008; Siim and Skjeie 2008; Borchorst
and Siim 2002). These, which I refer to as metaphors, indicate a form of
feminist success, since they imply that the collaboration between states
and social movements has led to high levels of gender equality. However,
the Nordic welfare states have simultaneously reinforced democratic defi-
cits and serious exclusions by benefiting certain gendered groups, while
leaving others disadvantaged. Such critique rather indicates a form of fail-
ure that requires our serious attention (see, e.g., the chapters in the first
section of this volume).
Postcolonial, anti-racist and indigenous feminists have been critical of
what Keskinen et al. (2009) refer to as ‘colonial complicity’, and what,
relatedly, Loftsdóttir and Jensen (2012) describe as ‘Nordic exceptional-
ism’. Both studies combine national myths about democratization and
egalitarianism in the Nordic region with the idea that this region is the
exception to the rule that imperialism and colonialism in Europe have
influenced the formation of national identities. According to these critics,
a denial of racial discrimination and colonial violence exists alongside rac-
ism in Nordic societies. In the context of hegemonic feminisms in the
region, this has historically led to the marginalization of mobilizations by
refugee and migrant women, as well as Sámi and Inuit feminists (see, e.g.,
Keskinen, pp. 195–215; Bang Svendsen, pp. 149–170).
Critics of ‘women-friendly’ welfare states and ‘Nordic exceptionalism’
often emphasize the usefulness of intersectional approaches to the study of
inequalities and privileges in the Nordic region and in feminist mobiliza-
tions, discourses, ideas and projects. They highlight the importance of
investigating whiteness as an epistemic habit and the expressions that rac-
ism can take (Dahl, pp. 108–127; Keskinen, pp. 195–215; Mulinari, pp.
173–194). However, there are also political and academic controversies
over the uses of intersectional approaches when such approaches have
travelled across the world. This has involved issues concerning the de-
politicizing of the notion, the ignoring of ‘race’ and the co-optation of
neoliberalism (de los Reyes and Mulinari 2020; Lykke 2020; Tomlinson
2018; Carbin and Edenheim 2013; Bilge 2013).
Starting from a critical perspective on ‘gender-friendly’ welfare states,
‘Nordic exceptionalism’, and different uses of intersectional approaches, I
2 CO-OPTATION AND FEMINISMS IN THE NORDIC REGION… 25
present a two-dimensional approach to the study of co-optation—defined

as controversial politics of inclusion and exclusion. I stress the importance
of disentangling analytical dimensions from normative political ones in the
study of co-optation.
Feminism is a community of belonging, an idea and a political project,
and, as such, it is a floating signifier (Davis and Evans 2016). Intersectional
and unequal power relations amongst self-defined feminists can influence
when and how the politics of inclusion and exclusion become controver-
sial, including who and what makes these politics controversial, when and
where. At the same time, the normative political question of ‘why’ the
‘what’, ‘where’, ‘how’ and ‘when’ of inclusion and exclusion in feminist
politics becomes controversial in particular cases is crucial. There is noth-
ing inherently wrong with controversies, but it can be productive to
uncover their complexities in order to find better strategies for feminist
struggles towards social justice and equality.
‘Gender-friendly’ Welfare States

and ‘Nordic exceptionalism’
Researchers often describe the core of the particularities of feminisms in

the Nordic region as including references to historical collaborations
between Nordic states and feminist movements. Nowadays, descriptions
of Nordic societies as ‘woman/women-friendly’ or ‘gender-friendly’ are
often seen as strong on metaphors but weak on analytical capacity, but
they are still widely used (Kantola and Verloo 2018, p. 209; Siim and
Stoltz 2015; Borchorst and Siim 2002; Hernes 1987, p. 15). They capture
a form of feminist success in which, as an outcome of feminist struggles,
agendas for gender equality have been included in the social-democratic-
inspired ‘Nordic model’ of welfare (Esping-Andersen 1990). The charac-
teristics of what political scientists call the governance relations between
states and non-state actors can change over time. For example, in this
volume Elomäki, Kantola, Koivunen and Ylöstalo address the shifting rela-
tionship between feminist politics and the state in Finland during the
2010s, when Finnish state-centred feminism faced a new situation, as the
state appeared for a moment to have turned its back on gender equality.
Simultaneously, across the region, this Nordic model has functioned as
an emerging gender normalizing and stabilizing structure. Feminist
researchers have pointed out that gender-equality policies have
26 P. STOLTZ
normatively regulated heterosexuality and positioned the nuclear family at

the core of their concerns (Giritli Nygren et al. 2018). Postcolonial femi-
nist scholars have highlighted problems with the use of gender equality by
ethno-nationalist and value-conservative social movements and political
parties. They have studied how these actors redefined gender equality as a
Western and Scandinavian value (Mulinari, pp. 173–194; de los Reyes
et al. 2002; Keskinen 2012). These studies implicitly or explicitly relate
feminisms in the Nordic region to ideas about Nordic exceptionalism
(Loftsdóttir and Jensen 2012).
Similarly to ‘women-friendly’, ‘Nordic exceptionalism’ is also a strong
metaphor that is weak on analytical capacity. I argue that Nordic excep-
tionalism has two elements. First, it relates to national myths about
democratization and egalitarianism in the Nordic region, which make the
Nordic welfare states the exception to the rule that welfare states originate
from long traditions of struggles against inequality. There are variations
across the region (Keskinen et al. 2019), but let me exemplify with the
case of Sweden. Bengtsson (2019) argues that it is commonplace amongst
historians and social scientists to consider the Swedish version of the
‘Nordic model’ of welfare and equality as being the logical end result of a
long historical trajectory of egalitarianism extending forward from early-
modern free peasant farmers, or a peculiar Swedish political culture that
was always egalitarian and consensus-oriented. Political parties and a wider
interested community also embrace this national myth. However, chal-
lenging this, Bengtsson shows that the factual basis for this myth is weak
and that Sweden in 1900 had some of the most unequal voting laws in
Western Europe, and more severe economic inequality than the United
States. Rather, the well-organized popular movements that emerged after
1870, with a strong egalitarian counter-hegemonic culture and unusually
broad popular participation in politics, lie at the roots of twentieth-century
egalitarianism in Sweden (Bengtsson 2019). Gender researchers have
pointed to the related national myths about gender equality in Sweden.
The critique of this myth is similar to that of the ‘gender-friendly’ welfare
state (Martinsson et al. 2017).
Second, Nordic exceptionalism is based on the idea that the Nordic
region is the exception to the rule that imperialism and colonialism—
including racial and gendered policies in overseas colonies—deeply influ-
enced the formation of European national identities. In the dominant
white Nordic self-representation of the region and its individual states, the
colonial history of being both colonizer and colonized was peripheral to
that of the rest of Europe (Keskinen 2019; Keskinen et al. 2019; Loftsdóttir
and Jensen 2012; Loftsdóttir and Björnsdóttir 2015; Martinsson
et al. 2017).
In the Nordic region, this has led to similar paradoxes as those described
by Wekker in a Dutch context. These concern a forceful denial of racial
discrimination and colonial violence, which paradoxically co-exist along-
side racism. It results in narratives of ‘white innocence’ and ignorance
about the colonial past amongst the white population, which consequently
safeguards white privilege (Wekker 2016). We can also recognize this in
feminisms in the region (de los Reyes and Mulinari 2020; Andersen et al.
2015). Dankertsen (pp. 129–148) and Bang Svendsen (pp. 149–170)
challenge such ‘innocence’ about the past, present and future of Nordic
colonial structures in relation to the pervasive absence of Saemieh/Sámi
and Inuit politics and thinking in Nordic societies in general, and in femi-
nisms specifically. Keskinen (pp. 195–215) addresses how antiracist femi-
nists react to racialization processes, which structure whiteness as being
good, unmarked and unproblematic. ‘White innocence’ is a problem
because it does not provide any opportunity to reveal positions of power
and privilege and thus makes it difficult to address the politics of solidarity
amongst feminists.
Intersectionality
Diversely situated feminists often use intersectional approaches in their
critiques of hegemonic versions of feminism. However, the uncritical use
and de-politicization of intersectionality and the relation between inter-
sectionality and the concept of (white) privilege in the study of feminist
and queer movements can be controversial. Recent debates, both inside
and outside the Nordic region, testify to this (de los Reyes and Mulinari
2020; Evans and Lépinard 2020; Lykke 2020; Tomlinson 2018; Carbin
and Edenheim 2013; Bilge 2013). Evans and Lépinard point out that
feminist and queer activists can often present intersectionality discourse as
a necessity and as a proxy for being inclusive. In such cases, activists assess
‘good’ activist practices in relation to this norm, especially in the matter of
the inclusion and representation of racialized women and queer activisms.
However, empirical research shows that when intersectionality is weak or
absent, activists do not necessarily replace it with other strategies of inclu-
sion. This raises questions about when and why social movements take up
intersectionality, and especially about how this process influences its
28 P. STOLTZ
appropriation and implementation (Evans and Lépinard 2020,

pp. 289–291).
It is important for my argument that we ask whether or when we can
observe a process of co-optation of intersectionality. Do activists in the
Nordic region use intersectionality as a byword for good practice, or as a
tool to maximize funding opportunities, thereby transforming it into an
empty buzzword that reproduces privilege? Can we recognize the use of
political intersectional approaches in the Nordic region as a co-optation by
right-wing populist and extremist mobilizations, in the same way as we
can see this elsewhere in Europe (Sauer et al. 2017)?
Co-optation as a Controversial Politics of Inclusion

and Exclusion
Scholars have studied co-optation using different methods and in relation

to several different types, but have rarely based their approaches on the
particularities of Nordic feminisms. Therefore, although some of their
findings are useful, others have their limitations. I acknowledge that I will
here be painting a picture of co-optation research based on only a few
sources and with a very broad brush. Unfortunately, I cannot do justice to
individual contributions or broader debates, but my intention is to discuss
how co-optation as a tool can help us to understand at least some of the
complexities of the politics of inclusion and exclusion in feminisms as these
are addressed in this book.
One understanding of co-optation relates the concept to ideas about
feminist successes and failures and/or to the assessment of ‘good’ activist
practices in relation to specific norms. Governance relations between state
and non-state actors can signal a form of feminist success, when political
parties incorporate feminist concepts or discourses of gender equality and
social justice and these eventually end up in national legislation, such as in
‘gender-friendly’ welfare states or in human-rights instruments at the
United Nations as an outcome of feminist struggle. However, we may ask:
When is this process a successful institutionalization of a social movement
and when is it a failure, which we can call co-optation? Is the employment
of feminist concepts, ideas and discourses by nationalist or neoliberal
forces a success or failure? There are several pertinent issues here, relating,
first, to social movement successes and failures, second, to the assessment
of practices of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ feminists and, third, to definitions of co-

optation and related concepts, such as appropriation.
Let me start with appropriation, which is a contested concept in several
disciplines within the humanities and social sciences. Social anthropolo-
gists Busse and Strang (2011) make one suggestion for how to define
appropriation by understanding it as relating to ownership, or the act of
making something one’s own. This concerns not only the appropriation of
things that had no previous owner, but also the process of coming to own
objects that previously belonged to others and are acquired through some
form of exchange or inheritance. We can frame some of these actions as
positive in terms of agency and creativity, and others as negative, such as
theft, or even extremely negative, such as enslavement or appropriation
through violence. We can understand acts of appropriation and communi-
cating and upholding ownership as processual rather than static (Busse
and Strang 2011, p. 4).
There can be a certain amount of overlap between particular definitions
of appropriation and co-optation. Feminist political scientists de Jong and
Kimm, in their research agenda for the study of the co-optation of femi-
nisms, defined the concept of co-optation as ‘the appropriation, dilution
and reinterpretation of feminist discourses, and practices by non-feminist
actors for their purposes’ (de Jong and Kimm 2017, p. 185). Here, appro-
priation is part of a broader definition of co-optation.
The normative political aim of de Jong and Kimm, as well as of other
feminist scholars, when they study co-optation, is to address their disap-
pointments, concerns and dilemmas in relation to specific phenomena that
can be framed as ‘co-optation’, in order to effectively struggle against
them. De Jong and Kimm position this specifically in the context of anxi-
ety over feminism’s vulnerability to co-optation by neoliberalism, follow-
ing, amongst others, the work of Fraser (de Jong and Kimm 2017; Fraser
2013). Eschle and Maiguashca, in turn, suggest that contemporary schol-
arship on feminist organizing in a neoliberal age is structured by a dichot-
omous understanding of feminism as either co-opted or resistant. They
find this unfortunate, because it circumscribes our empirical understand-
ing and political imagination (Eschle and Maiguashca 2014, 2018). In
other words, they point to issues relating to feminist successes and failures
as well as ‘good’ and ‘bad’ feminists, but also focus on the importance of
situatedness and context in thinking about co-optation.
Based on this, my own definition of co-optation as controversial politics
of inclusion and exclusion emphasizes that there is always controversy and
30 P. STOLTZ
a sense of unease related to the concept. I argue that co-optation is an

outspoken negative and normative political concept. The person who uses
the word ‘co-optation’ is making an accusation. This is different from the
definition of appropriation given by Busse and Strang (2011), which
argues that we can associate with appropriation in positive or neutral ways
as well as negative ones. I cannot further develop the comparison with
appropriation, due to lack of space, but my point is that it is not possible
to see co-optation as either positive or neutral: it is always only negative.
Consequently, I would like to stress the importance of disentangling
analytical from normative political dimensions in the study of co-optation,
and the related importance of self-reflexivity and transparency about the
normative political position of the researcher. As I will develop below, the
definition of co-optation given by de Jong and Kimm (2017) and the
point about dichotomous understandings of feminism developed by
Eschle and Maiguashca (2018) acknowledge the importance of disentan-
gling analytical dimensions from normative political ones. Rather than
doing so in passing, I argue that it is important to stress this action, because
it will help us to relate empirical observations about co-optation processes
to normative political struggles for equality and social justice.
A Two-Dimensional Approach to the Study

of Co-optation
Let me raise two points here and suggest two steps in reaction to these
points. First, feminist scholars of co-optation have recently emphasized
the importance of focusing on analytical questions, but there are differ-
ences in which questions these scholars suggest that we ask. Eschle and
Maiguashca (2018) focus on the ‘who’ and ‘where’ of co-optation in femi-
nist organizing against neoliberalism, but they leave aside questions of
‘what’. Korteweg, on the other hand, in her study of gendered racialized
migrations, settler nation-states and postcolonial difference, focuses on
questions of ‘who’ and ‘what’, and leaves aside questions of ‘where’
(Korteweg 2017). De Jong and Kimm provide us with a long list of ana-
lytical guiding questions. These concern the importance of asking ques-
tions about definitions, objects, actors, conditions, mechanisms, aims,
effects, intentions, openness and responses to co-optation. These ques-
tions encourage us to be sensitive to the appropriateness of different
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Yet I spoke forth, with a great show of anger, that I, Ammaerln, vizier
and companion to the Rthr, did but walk and speak in confidence with
my liege lord.
But they persisted, Gholad foremost among them. And then one saw
the hidden corpse and in an instant they ringed me in.
Then did I draw the long blade and hold it at the throat of Qulqlan.
"Press me not, or your king will surely die," I said. And they feared me
and shrank back.
"Do you dream that I, Ammaerln, wisest of the wise, have come for
the love of far-voyaging?" I raged. "Long have I plotted against this
hour; to lure the king a-voyaging in this his princely yacht, his faithful
vizier at his side, that the Change might come on him far from his
court. Then would the ancient wrong be redressed.
"There are those men born to rule as inevitably as the dream-tree
seeks the sun—and such a one am I! Long has this one, now
mindless, denied to me my destiny. But behold: I, with a stroke, shall
set things aright.
"Below us lies a green world, peopled by savages. Not one am I to
take blood vengeance on a man newborn from the Change. Instead I
shall set him free to take up his life there below. May the Fates lead
him again to royal state if that be their will—"
But there were naught but fools among them and they drew steel. I
cried out to them that all, all should share!
But they heeded me not but rushed upon me. Then did I turn to
Qulqlan and drive the long blade at his throat, but Gholad threw
himself before him and fell, impaled in the throat. Then they pressed
me and I did strike out against three who hemmed me close, and
though they took many wounds they persisted in their madness, one
leaping in to strike and another at my back, so that I whirled and
slashed at shadows who danced away.
In the end I hunted them down in those corners whither they had
dragged themselves and each did I put to the sword. And I turned at
last to find the Rthr gone and some few with him, and madness took
me that I had been gulled like a tinker by common men.
In the chamber of the memory couch would I find them. There they
would seek to give back to the mindless one that memory of past
glories which I had schemed so long to deny him. Almost I wept to
see such cunning wasted. Terrible in my wrath I came upon them
there. There were but two and, though they stood shoulder in the
entry way, their poor dirks were no match for my long blade. I struck
them dead and went to the couch, to lay my hand on the cylinder
marked with the vile gold and black of Qulqlan, that I might destroy it
and, with it, the Rthr, forever—
And I heard a sound and whirled about. A hideous figure staggered to
me from the gloom and for an instant I saw the flash of steel in the
bloody hand of the accursed Gholad whom I had left for dead. Then I
knew cold agony between my ribs....
Gholad lay slumped against the wall, his face greenish above the
blood-soaked tunic. When he spoke air whistled through his slashed
throat.
"Have done, traitor who once was honored of the king," he
whispered. "Have you no pity for him who once ruled in justice and
splendor at High Okk-Hamiloth?"
"Had you not robbed me of my destiny, murderous dog," I croaked,
"that splendor would have been mine."
"You came upon him helpless," gasped Gholad. "Make some amends
now for your shame. Let the Rthr have his mind, which is more
precious than his life."
"I but rest to gather strength. Soon will I rise and turn him from the
couch. Then will I die content."
"Once you were his friend," Gholad whispered. "By his side you
fought, when both of you were young. Remember that ... and have
pity. To leave him here, in this ship of death, mindless and alone...."
"I have loosed the Hunters!" I shrieked in triumph. "With them will the
Rthr share this tomb until the end of time!"
Then I searched within me and found a last terrible strength and I
rose up ... and even as my hand reached out to pluck away the mind
trace of the king I felt the bloody fingers of Gholad on my ankle, and
then my strength was gone. And I was falling headlong into that dark
well of death from which there is no returning....
I woke up and lay for a long time in the dark without moving, trying to
remember the fragments of a strange dream of violence and death. I
could still taste the lingering dregs of some bitter emotion. For a
moment I couldn't remember what it was I had to do; then with a start
I recalled where I was. I had lain down on the couch and pulled the
head-piece into place—
It hadn't worked.
I thought hard, tried to tap a new reservoir of memories, drew a blank.
Maybe my Earth-mind was too alien for the Vallonian memory-trace to
affect. It was another good idea that hadn't worked out. But at least I
had had a good rest. Now it was time to get moving. First: to see if
Ommodurad was still asleep. I started to sit up—
Nothing happened.
I had a moment of vertigo, as my inner ear tried to accommodate to
having stayed in the same place after automatically adjusting to my
intention of rising. I lay perfectly still and tried to think it through.
I had tried to move ... and hadn't so much as twitched a muscle. I was
paralyzed ... or tied up ... or maybe, if I was lucky, imagining things. I
could try it again and next time—
I was afraid to try. Suppose I tried and nothing happened—again?
This was ridiculous. All I had to do was sit up. I—
Nothing. I lay in the dark and tried to will an arm to move, my head to
turn. It was as though I had no arm, no head—just a mind, alone in
the dark. I strained to sense the ropes that held me down; still
nothing. No ropes, no arms, no body. There was no pressure against
me from the couch, no vagrant itch or cramp, no physical sensation. I
was a disembodied brain, lying nestled in a great bed of pitch-black
cotton wool.
Then, abruptly, I was aware of myself—not the gross mechanism of
clumsy bone and muscle, but the neuro-electric field generated within
the massive structure of a brain alive with flashing currents and a
lightning interplay of molecular forces. A sense of orientation grew. I
occupied a block of cells ... here in the left hemisphere. The mass of
neural tissue loomed over me, gigantic. And "I" ... "I" was reduced to
the elemental ego, who possessed as a material appurtenance "my"
arms and legs, "my" body, "my" brain.... Relieved of outside stimuli I
was able now to conceptualize myself as I actually was: an
insubstantial state existing in an immaterial continuum, created by the
action of neural currents within the cerebrum, as a magnetic field is
created in space by the flow of electricity.
And I knew what had happened. I had opened my mind to invasion by
alien memories. The other mind had seized upon the sensory
centers, driven me to this dark corner. I was a fugitive within my own
skull.
For a timeless time I lay stunned, immured now as the massive
stones of Bar-Ponderone had never confined me. My basic self-
awareness still survived, but was shunted aside, cut off from any
contact with the body itself.
With shadowy fingers of imagination I clawed at the walls surrounding
me, fought for a glimpse of light, for a way out.
And found none.
Then, at last, I began again to think.
I must analyze my awareness of my surroundings, seek out channels
through which impulses from sensory nerves flowed, and tap them.
I tried cautiously; an extension of my self-concept reached out with
ultimate delicacy. There were the ranked infinities of cells, there the
rushing torrents of gross fluid, there the taut cables of the
interconnecting web, and there—
Barrier! Blank and impregnable the wall reared up. My questing
tendril of self-stuff raced over the surface like an ant over a melon,
and found no tiniest fissure.
I withdrew. To dissipate my forces was senseless. I must select a
point of attack, hurl against it all the power of my surviving identity.
The last of the phantom emotions that had clung—for how long?—to
the incorporeal mind field had faded now, leaving me with no more
than an intellectual determination to reassert myself. Dimly I
recognized this sign of my waning sense of identity but there was no
surge of instinctive fear. Instead I coolly assessed my resources—
and almost at once stumbled into an unused channel, here within my
own self-field. For a moment I recoiled from the outer configuration of
the stored patterns ... and then I remembered.
I had been in the water, struggling, while the Red soldier waited, rifle
aimed. And then: a flood of data, flowing with cold, impersonal
precision. And I had deftly marshalled the forces of my body to
survive.
And once more: as I hung by numbed fingers under the cornice of the
Yordano Tower, the cold voice had spoken.
And I had forgotten. The miracle had been pushed back, rejected by
the conscious mind. But now I knew: this was the knowledge that I
had received from the background briefing device that I had used in
my island strong-room before I fled. This was the survival data known
to all Old Vallonians of the days of the Two Worlds. It had lain here,
unused; the secrets of superhuman strength and endurance ... buried
by the imbecile censor-self's aversion to the alien.
But the ego alone remained now, stripped of the burden of neurosis,
freed from subconscious pressures. The levels of the mind were laid
bare, and I saw close at hand the regions where dreams were born,
the barren sources of instinctive fear-patterns, the linkages to the
blinding emotions; and all lay now under my overt control.
Without further hesitation I tapped the stored Vallonian knowledge,
encompassed it, made it mine. There again I approached the barrier,
spread out across it, probed in vain—
"... vile primitive...."
The thought thundered out with crushing force. I recoiled, then
renewed my attack, alert now. I knew what to do.
I sought and found a line of synaptic weakness, burrowed at it—
"... intolerable ... vestigial ... erasure...."
I struck instantly, slipped past the impervious shield, laid firm hold on
the optic receptor bank. The alien mind threw itself against me, but
too late. I held secure and the assault faded, withdrew. Cautiously I
extended my interpretive receptivity. There was a pattern of pulses,
oscillations in the lambda/mu range. I tuned, focussed—
Abruptly I was seeing. For a moment my fragile equilibrium tottered,
as I strove to integrate the flow of external stimuli into my bodiless
self-concept. Then a balance was struck: I held my ground and stared
through the one eye I had recaptured from the usurper.
And I reeled again!
Bright daylight blazed in the chamber of Ommodurad. The scene
shifted as the body moved about, crossing the room, turning.... I had
assumed that the body still lay in the dark but instead, it walked,
without my knowledge, propelled by a stranger.
The field of vision flashed across the couch. Ommodurad was gone.
I sensed that the entire left lobe, disoriented by the loss of the eye,
had slipped now to secondary awareness, its defenses weakened. I
retreated momentarily from my optic outpost, laid a temporary
traumatic block across the access nerves to keep the intruder from
reasserting possession, and concentrated my force in an attack on
the auricular channels. It was an easy rout. I seized on the nerve
trunk, then instantly reoccupied the eye, co-ordinated its impressions
with those coming in along the aural nerves ... and heard my voice
mouth a curse.
The body was standing beside a bare wall with a hand laid upon it. In
the wall a recess partly obscured by a sliding panel stood empty.
The body turned, strode to a doorway, emerged into a gloomy violet-
shadowed corridor. The glance flicked from the face of one guard to
another. They stared in open-mouthed surprise, brought weapons up.
"You dare to bar the path to the Lord Ammaerln?" My voice slashed
at the men. "Stand aside, as you value your lives."
And the body pushed past them, strode off along the corridor. It
passed through a great archway, descended a flight of marble stairs,
came along a hall I had seen on my tour of the Palace of Sapphires
and into the Onyx Chamber with the great golden sunburst that
covered the high black wall.
In the Great Owner's chair at the ringboard Ommodurad sat scowling
at the lame courtier whose red hair was hidden now under a black
cowl. Between them Foster stood, the heavy manacles dragging at
his wrists.
Ommodurad turned; his face paled, then flushed dark rose, teeth
bared.
The gaze of my eye fixed on Foster. Foster stared back, a look of
incredulity growing on his face.
"My Lord Rthr," my voice said. The eye swept down and fixed on the
manacles. The body drew back a step, as if in horror.
"You overreach yourself, Ommodurad!" my voice cried harshly.
Ommodurad stepped toward me, his immense arm raised.
"Lay not a hand on me, dog of a usurper!" my voice roared out. "By
the Gods, would you take me for common clay!"
And, unbelievably, Ommodurad paused, stared in my face.
"I know you as the upstart Drgon, petty Owner," he rumbled. "But I
trow I see another there behind your pale eyes."
"Foul was the crime that brought me to this pass," my voice said. "But
... know that your master, Ammaerln, stands before you, in the body
of a primitive!"
"Ammaerln...!" Ommodurad jerked as though he had been struck.
My body turned, dismissing him. The eye rested on Foster.
"My liege," my voice said unctuously. "I swear the dog dies for this
treason—"
"It is a mindless one, intruder," Ommodurad broke in. "Seek no favor
with the Rthr, for he that was Rthr is no more. You deal with me now."
My body whirled on Ommodurad. "Give a thought to your tone, lest
your ambitions prove your death!"
Ommodurad put a hand to his dagger. "Ammaerln of Bros-Ilyond you

may be, or a changeling from dark regions I know not of. But know
that this day I hold all power in Vallon."
"And what of this one who was once Qulqlan? What consort do you
hold with him you say is mindless?" I saw my hand sweep out in a
contemptuous gesture at Foster.
"An end to patience!" the Great Owner roared. He started toward my
body.
"Does the fool, Ommodurad, forget the power of the great
Ammaerln?" my voice said softly. And the towering figure hesitated
once more, searching my face. "The Rthr's hour is past ... and so is
yours, bungler and fool. Your self-delusion is ended." My voice rose in
a bellow: "Know that I ... Ammaerln, the great ... have returned to rule
at High Okk-Hamiloth...."
He threw back his head, and laughed a choked throaty laugh that
was half sob.
"Know, demon, or madman, or ancient prince of evil: for thirty
centuries have I brooded alone, sealed from an empire by a single
key!"
I felt the shock rack through and through the invader mind. This was
the opportunity I had hoped for. Quick as thought I moved, slashed at
the wavering shield, and was past it—
Upon the mind-picture of Foster's face was now superimposed
another: that of Qulqlan, Rthr of all Vallon, ruler of the Two Worlds!
And other pictures, snatched from the intruder mind, were present
now in the Earth-consciousness of me, Legion:
the vaults, deep in the rock under the fabled city of Okk-Hamiloth,
where the mind-trace of every citizen was stored, sealed by the Rthr
and keyed to his mind alone;
Ammaerln, urging the king to embark on a far-voyage, stressing the
burden of government, tempting him to bring with him the royal mind-
trace;
Qulqlan's acquiescence and Ammaerln's secret joy at the
advancement of his scheme;
the coming of the Change for the Rthr, aboard ship, far out in space,
and the vizier's bold stroke;
and then the fools who found him at the lifeboat ... and the loss of all,
all....
There my own lived memories took up the tale: the awakening of
Foster, unsuspecting, and his recording of the mind of the dying
Ammaerln; the flight from the Hunters; the memory-trace of the king,
that lay for three millennia among neolithic bones until I, a primitive,
plucked it from its place; and the pocket of a coarse fibre garment
where the cylinder lay now, on a hip of the body I inhabited and as
inaccessible to me as if it had been a million miles away.
But there was a second memory-trace—Ammaerln. I had crossed a
galaxy to come to Foster, and with me, locked in an unmarked pewter
cylinder, I had brought Foster's ancient nemesis.
I had given it life, and a body.
Foster, once Rthr, had survived against all logic and had come back
from the dead: the last hope of a golden age....
To meet his fate at my hands.
"Three thousand years," I heard my voice saying. "Three thousand

years have the men of Vallon lived mindless, with the power that was
Vallon locked away in a vault without a key. And now, you think to
force this mind—that is no mind—to unseal the vault?"
"I know it for a hopeless task," Ommodurad said. "At first I thought—
since he speaks the tongue of old Vallon—that he dissembled. But he
knows nothing. This is but the dry husk of the Rthr ... and I sicken of
the sight. I would fain kill him now and let the long farce end."
"Not so!" my voice cut in. "Once I decreed exile to the mindless one.
So be it!"
The face of Ommodurad twisted in its rage. "Your witless chatterings!
I tire of them."
"Wait!" my voice snarled. "Would you put aside the key?"
There was a silence as Ommodurad stared at my face. I saw my
hand rise into view. Gripped in it was Foster's memory-trace.
"The Two Worlds lie in my hand," my voice spoke. "Observe well the
black and golden bands of the royal memory-trace. Who holds this
key is all-powerful. As for the mindless body yonder, let it be
destroyed."
Ommodurad locked eyes with mine. Then, "Let the deed be done," he
said.
The red-head drew a long stiletto from under his cloak, smiling. I
could wait no longer....
Along the link I had kept through the intruder's barrier I poured the
last of the stored energy of my mind. I felt the enemy recoil, then
strike back with crushing force. But I was past the shield.
As the invader reached out to encircle me I shattered my unified
forward impulse into myriad nervous streamlets that flowed on, under,
over, and around the opposing force; I spread myself through and
through the inner mass, drawing new power from the trunk sources.
Now! I struck for the right optic center, clamped down with a death
grip.
The enemy mind went mad as the darkness closed in. I heard my
voice scream and I saw in vivid pantomime the vision that threatened
the invader: the red-head darting, the stiletto flashing—
And then the invading mind broke, swirled into chaos, and was
gone....
I reeled, shocked and alone inside my skull. The brain loomed, dark
and untenanted now. I began to move, crept along the major nerve
paths, reoccupied the cortex—
"I reeled, shocked and alone inside my skull. The brain loomed,
dark and untenanted now."
Agony! I twisted, felt again with a massive return of sensation my

arms, my legs, opened both eyes to see blurred figures moving. And
in my chest a hideous pain....
I was sprawled on the floor, I lay gasping. Sudden understanding
came: the red-head had struck ... and the other mind, in full rapport
with the pain centers, had broken under the shock, left the stricken
brain to me alone.
As through a red veil I saw the giant figure of Ommodurad loom,
stoop over me, rise with the royal cylinder in his hand. And beyond,
Foster strained backward, the chain between his wrists garroting the
red-head. Ommodurad turned, took a step, flicked the man from
Foster's grasp and hurled him aside. He drew his dagger. Quick as a
hunting cat Foster leaped, struck with the manacles ... and the knife
clattered across the floor. Ommodurad backed away with a curse,
while the red-head seized the stiletto he had let fall and moved in.
Foster turned to meet him, staggering, and raised heavy arms.
I fought to move, got my hand as far as my side, fumbled with the
leather strap. The alien mind had stolen from my brain the
knowledge of the cylinder but I had kept from it the fact of the pistol. I
had my hand on its butt now. Painfully I drew it, dragged my arm up,
struggled to raise the weapon, centered it on the back of the mop of
red hair, free now of the cowl ... and fired.
Ommodurad had found his dagger. He turned back from the corner
where Foster had sent it spinning. Foster retreated until his back was
at the wall: My vision grew dimmer. The great gold circles of the Two
Worlds seemed to revolve, while waves of darkness rolled over me.
But there was a thought: something I had found among the patterns
in the intruder's mind. At the center of the sunburst rose a boss, in
black and gold, erupting a foot from the wall, like a sword hilt....
The thought came from far away. The sword of the Rthr, used once,
in the dawn of a world, by a warrior king but laid away now, locked in
its sheath of stone, keyed to the mind-pattern of the Rthr, that none
other might ever draw it to some ignoble end.
A sword, keyed to the basic mind-pattern of the king....
I drew a last breath, blinked back the darkness. Ommodurad

stepped past me, knife in hand, toward the unarmed man.
"Foster," I croaked. "The sword...."
Foster's head came up. I had spoken in English; the syllables rang
strangely in that outworld setting. Ommodurad ignored the unknown
words.
"Draw ... the sword ... from the stone!... You're ... Qulqlan ... Rthr ...
of Vallon."
I saw him reach out, grasp the ornate hilt. Ommodurad, with a cry,
leaped toward him—
The sword slid out smoothly, four feet of glittering steel. Ommodurad
stopped, stared at the manacled hands gripping the hilt of the fabled
blade. Slowly he sank to his knees, bent his neck.
"I yield, Qulqlan," he said. "I crave the mercy of the Rthr."
Behind me I heard thundering feet. Dimly I was aware of Torbu
raising my head, of Foster leaning over me. They were saying
something but I couldn't hear. My feet were cold, and the coldness
crept higher. The winds that swept through eternity blew away the
last shred of ego and I was one with darkness....
Epilogue
I awoke to a light like that of a morning when the world was young.
Gossamer curtains fluttered at tall windows, through which I saw a
squadron of trim white clouds riding in a high blue sky.
I turned my head, and Foster stood beside me, dressed in a short
white tunic.
"That's a crazy set of threads, Foster," I said, "but on your build it
looks good. But you've aged; you look twenty-five if you look a day."
Foster smiled. "Welcome to Vallon, my friend," he said in English.
"Vallon," I said. "Then it wasn't all a dream?"
"Regard it as a dream, Legion. Your life begins today." Someone
came forward from behind Foster.
"Gope," I said. Then I hesitated. "You are Gope, aren't you?" I said in
Vallonian.
He laughed. "I was known by that name once," he said, "but my true
name is Gwanne."
My eyes fell on my legs. I saw that I was wearing a tunic like Foster's
except that mine was pale blue.
"Who put the dress on me?" I asked. "And where's my pants?"
"This garment suits you better," said Gope. "Come. Look in the
glass."
I got to my feet, stepped to a long mirror, glanced at the reflection.
"It's not the real me, boys," I started. Then I stared, open-mouthed. A
Hercules, black-haired and clean-limbed, stared back. I shut my
mouth ... and his mouth shut. I moved an arm and he did likewise. I
whirled on Foster.
"What ... how ... who...?"
"The mortal body that was Legion died of its wounds," he said, "but
the mind that was the man was recorded. We have waited many
years to give that mind life again."
I turned back to the mirror, gaped. The young giant gaped back. "I
remember," I said. "I remember ... a knife in my guts ... and a red-
headed man ... and the Great Owner, and...."
"For his crimes," told Gope, "he went to a place of exile until the
Change should come on him. Long have we waited."
I looked again and now I saw two faces in the mirror and both of
them were young. One was low down, just above my ankles, and it
belonged to a cat I had known as Itzenca. The other, higher up, was
that of a man I had known as Ommodurad. But this was a clear-eyed
Ommodurad, just under twenty-one.
"Onto the blank slate we traced your mind," said Gope.
"He owed you a life, Legion," Foster said. "His own was forfeit."
"I guess I ought to kick and scream and demand my original ugly
puss back," I said slowly, studying my reflection, "but the fact is, I like
looking like Mr. Universe."
"Your earthly body was infected with the germs of old age," said
Foster. "Now you can look forward to a great span of life."
"But come," said Gope. "All Vallon waits to honor you." He led the
way to the tall window.
"Your place is by my side at the great ringboard," said Foster. "And
afterwards: all of the Two Worlds lie before you."
I looked past the open window and saw a carpet of velvet green that
curved over foothills to the rim of a forest. Down the long sward I
saw a procession of bright knights and ladies come riding on
animals, some black, some golden palomino, that looked for all the
world like unicorns.
My eyes travelled upward to where the light of a great white sun
flashed on blue towers. And somewhere in the distance trumpets
sounded.
"It looks like a pretty fair offer," I said.
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Feminisms in The Nordic Region Neoliberalism Nationalism and Decolonial Critique 1St Ed Edition Suvi Keskinen Full Chapter

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Feminisms in the Nordic Region:

Neoliberalism, Nationalism and

Feminisms in the Nordic Region

More information about this series at

ISSN 2662-5814 ISSN 2662-5822 (electronic)

Cover illustration: dancingfishes / Getty Images

Pauline would like to thank the administration at Aalborg University

“By bringing questions of migration, indigeneity and de-coloniality to the fore-

“This volume is a must-read for anyone interested in contemporary intersectional

1 Contextualising Feminisms in the Nordic Region:

2 Co-optation and Feminisms in the Nordic Region:

Part I Feminist Struggles over Gender Equality, Welfare and

3 Gender, Citizenship and Intersectionality: Contending

4 Changing Feminist Politics in a ‘Strategic State’ 67

5 ‘Danishness’, Repressive Immigration Policies and

Part II Decolonising Feminisms in the Nordic Region 111

6 Nordic Academic Feminism and Whiteness as Epistemic

7 Indigenising Nordic Feminism—A Sámi Decolonial

8 Saami Women at the Threshold of Disappearance: Elsa

Part III Antiracism and Speaking the Truth to Power 177

9 “And They Cannot Teach Us How to Cycle”: The

10 Antiracist Feminism and the Politics of Solidarity in

11 Rethinking Design: A Dialogue on Anti-­Racism and Art

12 Epilogue: We Should All Be Dreaming Vol. 3247

Maryan Abdulkarim is a writer and active participant in social discourse

Astri Dankertsen (Sámi/Norwegian), PhD, is an associate professor of

(2018–2023). She is the author of various monographs and edited books

Faith Mkwesha is a researcher and lecturer at the Swedish School of

Pauline Stoltz is an associate professor in the Department of Politics and

Fig. 11.1 Faith Mkwesha during a demonstration in front of the Plan

Contextualising Feminisms in the Nordic

Pauline Stoltz, Diana Mulinari, and Suvi Keskinen

Elle Marja: [to Njenna] ‘Don’t yoik at school…’.

Khaled: ‘Listen. I fell in love with Finland’.

Sámi Blood [Sameblod] (2016) is a Swedish film, written and directed

© The Author(s) 2021 1

NOS-HS and the Nordic Council of Ministers/NIKK) to organise a series

Feminisms in the Nordic Region and Beyond

The use of the notion of hegemonic feminism identifies the power to

Situating Feminisms in the Nordic Region

notions of humanitarianism, gender equality, and egalitarianism. The ten-

Feminism, Neoliberalism, Nationalism,

The Nordic welfare regime has gone through considerable changes in

between successful (productive) citizens and those identified as a burden

Feminist Politics of Solidarity and Hope

questioning stable categorisations and presumed homogeneous cultures.

Feminist Struggles over Gender Equality, Welfare,

This has resulted in the strengthening of so-called governance feminism,

Decolonising Feminisms in the Nordic Region

network and research meetings, in classrooms, and within public debates.

equality that is characteristic of Nordic feminism is seen as a threshold of

Antiracism and Speaking the Truth to Power

of strategies in the field of representation to create non-stereotypical and

de los Reyes, P., & Mulinari, D. (2005). Intersektionalitet : kritiska reflektioner

Keskinen, S. (2016). From welfare nationalism to welfare chauvinism. Economic

Co-optation and Feminisms in the Nordic

© The Author(s) 2021 23

present a two-dimensional approach to the study of co-optation—defined

‘Gender-friendly’ Welfare States

Researchers often describe the core of the particularities of feminisms in

normatively regulated heterosexuality and positioned the nuclear family at

appropriation and implementation (Evans and Lépinard 2020,

Co-optation as a Controversial Politics of Inclusion

1 Contextualising Feminisms in the Nordic Region:

2 Co-optation and Feminisms in the Nordic Region:

Part I Feminist Struggles over Gender Equality, Welfare and

3 Gender, Citizenship and Intersectionality: Contending

4 Changing Feminist Politics in a ‘Strategic State’ 67

5 ‘Danishness’, Repressive Immigration Policies and

Part II Decolonising Feminisms in the Nordic Region 111

6 Nordic Academic Feminism and Whiteness as Epistemic

7 Indigenising Nordic Feminism—A Sámi Decolonial

8 Saami Women at the Threshold of Disappearance: Elsa

Part III Antiracism and Speaking the Truth to Power 177

9 “And They Cannot Teach Us How to Cycle”: The

10 Antiracist Feminism and the Politics of Solidarity in

11 Rethinking Design: A Dialogue on Anti-Racism and Art

12 Epilogue: We Should All Be Dreaming Vol. 3247

of practices of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ feminists and, third, to definitions of co-