Genusvetenskap

Genusvetenskap, or gender studies, is an interdisciplinary academic field that analyzes gender as a social and cultural category rather than solely as a biological difference. It investigates how gender norms, roles, and identities are produced and reinforced, and how these processes intersect with power relations, institutions, and everyday life. The field often employs theory and methods from sociology, anthropology, literature, history, linguistics, political science and related disciplines.

Genusvetenskap emerged from feminist theory and critical social theory in the late 20th century and has since established undergraduate and graduate programs in universities around the world, particularly in Nordic countries. Its aim is to understand how gender structures knowledge, culture, work, family life, and public policy, and to explore pathways toward greater gender equality and social justice.

Research topics are diverse and include pay gaps, work-life balance, care work, sexuality and orientation, gendered violence, representation in media and culture, and the politics of gendered identities. The field uses qualitative and quantitative methods, including discourse analysis, interviews, ethnography, and comparative policy analysis. It also emphasizes intersectionality, examining how gender interacts with race, class, ethnicity, disability, and nationality.

In academia, genusvetenskap informs teaching, research, and public debate, and often collaborates with education, social work, and policy studies. Critics sometimes argue about its methodological boundaries or political biases; supporters see it as essential for understanding power, inequality, and social change.