Gender Inequality Problems and their (Im)possibilities: Critically Exploring Swedish Preschool’s Gender Equality Mandate

The Swedish preschool has had a gender equality mandate for over two decades. Research shows, however, that preschool teachers find the gender equality mandate challenging to interpret. The aim of this article is to critically explore the theoretical complexities of the gender equality mandate problem constructions and the subsequent (im)possibilities for interpretation. The gender equality mandate encompasses law and curriculum, which are official procedures established and communicated by governmental bodieslocated in five different versions of curricula, the Education Act (SFS, 2010:567), the Discrimination Act (SFS, 2008:567), and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989). This constellation is analysed through a Bacchi-inspired critical policy analysis based on diffraction, where gender equality is framed as an essentially contested empty and floating signifier that is filled with different feminist theoretical problem formulations over time and space. By interpreting the gender equality mandate through various feminist theories, the analysis shows that it can be interpreted to include problem constructions based on inequalities between binary oppositional categories, socially constructed differences between these subject positions, heteronormativity limitations, and intersectional inequalities. These constructions are both based on different feminist theories that contradict and undermine each other while simultaneously leaving some identities unproblematised.