Brundtland excited

In the 1970s, the world saw a new women’s movement with demands for freedom and real equality with men, Larsen says.

– Women had long had the right to vote. It was now about representation and the exercise of power.

– Here, the so-called women’s government of Gro Harlem Brundtland in 1986 attracted attention because it had almost as many women ministers as men.

Because Sweden have been so strong in this area, Norway may have been able to rest a bit.

Larsen notes that it still took a Conservative government, under Erna Solberg, thirty years later, for the post of foreign minister to be held by a woman.

With a female Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs as well as Minister of Finance, the second Solberg government became another symbol of Norway’s progressive gender equality policy.

This government has excelled in other ways too, says co-author Inger Skjelsbæk.

– When they sent a delegation to the UN, it was also in purely female groups, with an ambassador at the head.

In the case of Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Søreide, co-author Inger Skjelsbæk questions whether Norway’s historic merits in equality and the strong female representation of the Solberg government have become a kind of pillow :

– Did Søreide think that Norway’s achievements speak for themselves and therefore there was no need to label Norwegian foreign policy as equality-oriented?

The Swedes have traditionally been a leading country in exporting the welfare state and social democratic values ​​to a greater extent than Norway, and are also seen as such around the world, she says.

– Because Sweden was so strong in this area, maybe Norway was able to rest a bit. And as I said, I think that suited Norway and the Norwegian foreign minister well, says Skjelsbæk.