Abstract

This article adds to the understanding of men’s discursive resistance in relation to gender-equality interventions at work. Using Swedish men forestry professionals as the empirical base, the result shows how discursive resistance were performative acts, part of the construction of the same gender-equality interventions and organizational contexts that they were perceived to describe. In this case, direct opposition to gender equality provided a limited discursive position and sets of logics available in practice. Instead, the possibilities to renegotiate gender-equality interventions as unjust and unnecessary required, we conclude that the industry’s ambition to hire and promote more women was perceived to have led to the use of affirmative action and the disruption of meritocratic principles and that the problems of gender equality were placed in the traditional forestry and among “prejudiced old men,” as oppose to the more “modern” and “women friendly” forestry of today.

Keywords

masculinity; discursive resistance; gender-equality intervention; men's resistance; Swedish forestry

Published in

Men and masculinities
2019, Volume: 22, number: 2, pages: 177-196

SLU Authors

• Andersson, Elias

  • Department of Forest Resource Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Lidestav, Gun

  • Department of Forest Resource Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

Sustainable Development Goals

Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
Reduce inequality within and among countries


UKÄ Subject classification

Forest Science
Gender Studies
Work Sciences


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1097184X17706400

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/83044