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A general bias in most welfare states has been to use public revenues to deal with inequality in social and economic programmes. However, tax policies and regulatory tax reforms very seldom consider that gender norms and practices have had profound effects in shaping tax systems, which has become hindrance for achieving economic gender equality.

By applying a gender perspective on family and business taxation we want to show that breadwinning and support of the family are common dominators for how the modern income taxation was constructed. A common understanding is that the consequence of this transformation from family economy to market economy also lead to a permanent and clear cut between these two spheres of economy. We will show that this idea of separation is more of a fiction than the reality.

Sweden is known to have one of the world's most generous parental insurances, both inlength and flexibility which has led to a high maternity rate and more women in paidwork. The political work on equality in Sweden has the goal that women and men shallhave the same power to shape society and their own lives. This has led to legislationaimed at getting fathers to stay more at home with their children. There has been plenty ofresearch on this subject so this study goes off the main track and looks at how legislationaround parenthood works for same-sex couples and if paternal leave is shared moreequally between same-sex parents than heterosexual parents. Discourse analysis of thelegislation and a survey with same-sex families followed by interviews indicate that samesexcouples share parental leave more equally than heterosexual couples. Legislationworks well for most same-sex families except for the process of related adoption. Reasonsfor more equal sharing of parental leave is hard to find but could depend on the fact thatsame-sex couples have been couples for a longer time, than heterosexual couples, beforedeciding to have children. Wage gap between men and women is a reason whyheterosexual couples do not share equally and it could be vice versa for same-sex couples.

This volume takes a critical look at the gender of tax policy around the world. Contributors based in eight different countries examine the profound effects that gender norms and practices have had in shaping tax law and policy, and how taxation in turn impacts upon the possibilities for equality along gender, race, class, sexuality and other lines. It includes chapters that explore how the gendered fiscal state might be theorised; how structural choices about rates and bases in tax policy design contribute to gender inequality; how tax policy affects family configurations and perceptions of what constitutes family; how fiscal systems impact savings and wealth accumulation by women and men; and, the role of different policy making processes and institutions in occluding and sometimes challenging these patterns. Most significantly, perhaps, the book explores these questions in an international frame, traversing countries and continents. The conclusion: fiscal policy has deep rooted, long standing gender implications that affect virtually every aspect of our social, political, and economic lives whether we live in Canada, Australia or Kenya.

This chapter reflects on how social constructionism and discourse analysis relate to the dominant theory and methodology of criminal law and legal scholarship in Sweden. Contemporary feminist legal studies in Sweden are often based on a social constructionist theory and methodology of law. Studies of criminal law and men's violence against women, however, are an important exception. In contemporary Swedish criminal legal scholarship, law is most often conceptualized as a formal, closed and coherent system of rules and principles. Criminal law has traditionally had a relatively low-key role in the Nordic welfare states. The defensive model of criminal law policy builds on neoclassical values and stresses that values such as legality, proportionality and fairness cannot be subordinated to the need to prevent crime through criminalization. Dogmatic criminal legal scholarship is comprehended as an internal systematic perspective within boundaries that are set up by the legislator and the courts. 

Feminists have long criticized how provocations narrative of a woman 'asking for it' functions as a legal 'abuse excuse' for violent men and confirms their rationalizations and justifications for violence. This article aims to challenge a particular aspect of provocation in Swedish criminal law namely, a tendency to individualize and subjectivize culpability in a way that suggests that the individual male perpetrator's specific understanding of his violence should be the perspective from which to understand and judge his violence. Criminal legal culpability is approached as an important aspect in the relationships between gender, power, and violence, and the author argues that the notion of culpability should be changed in two respects. The tendency to regard emotions as 'factual' should be replaced by an evaluative view on emotions and men's responsibility for their emotional responses to women should be judged by acknowledging how values and reasons intersect with power relations

I Förtroendeutredningens betänkande "Ökat förtroende för domstolarna" behandlas domstolarnas kvalitetsarbete, bemötande, domskrivning och mediekontakter. Ombedd att kommentera betänkandet har jag valt att inrikta mig på frågan om domstolars bemötande av parter och bevispersoner, särskilt vad avser institutionellt bemötande, personbemätande samt utbildningsfrågor. Utredningen står för ett viktigt perspektivskifte där brukarnas upplevelser liksom frågor om värdegrund och motverkande av diskriminering lyfts fram. Frågan om domstolars bemötande blir väl belyst i betänkandet och om utredningens förslag genomförs kommer bemötandefrågorna onekligen att ta ett viktigt steg framåt.

A strong assumption in Swedish family law that shared parenting and parentalcooperation post-separation or divorce are preferred creates, as in many otherjurisdictions, problems for mothers who try to protect themselves and their childrenfrom violent fathers. Changes in law during the last decade have, however,weakened the assumption that joint custody and extensive contact with violentfathers are the normal legal outcomes. This article analyzes how fathers’ rights discourses since 2006 have been visible in, and influenced by, Swedish law reformprocesses on child custody and related issues, taking particular account of thecontext of fathers’ violence against mothers. In the analysis, fathers’ violenceagainst mothers is situated within a Swedish gender equality context, and fourdomains of law and policy that are related to fathers’ violence against mothersare delineated as an analytical framework in order to understand the dynamicsof fathers’ rights discourses in relation to the law reforms. The study shows thatfathers’ rights groups have been active and that their discourses are visible in thelegislative documents but that the space for fathers’ rights discourses has beensomewhat restricted in law reforms since 2006. However, the author argues thatthe four law and policy domains seem to lack the ability to counteract fathers’rights discourses regarding economic issues. Moreover, discourses on children’srights, interests, protection, and well-being that are present within all domainshave been more influential on the outcomes of the reforms than gendered discourseson fathers’ violence against mothers. Even though gendered discourses onviolence seem to have played a role in counteracting fathers’ rights discourses,gendered discourses have struggled at the same time to influence several domainsrelated to fathers’ violence against mothers.

This article deals with the ways in which gender and race are recognized and addressed in Swedish criminal and alien law with reference to men’s violence against women with insecure residency. It offers an analysis of Swedish preparatory works and case law which seeks to unmask and problematize intersecting power structures and discourses in law. The analysis shows that a perspective on men’s violence against women as related to gender and power to some extent has been implemented in and had significant effects on criminal law, while the significance of race and racism has not been properly acknowledged. Swedish alien law is blatantly lacking in an understanding both in terms of gender power relations and of the ways in which men’s violence against women can be racialized or culturalized. The main conclusion is that there are significant processes of ‘othering’ abused women in both legal areas, but especially in alien law where abused migrant women are constructed as unwanted in the Swedish society when no longer fulfilling their function as men’s partners. The author argues that the notions that men’s violence against women always harms women and is about the assertion of power and control over women should be placed at the centre of an intersectional approach to law and policy. Such an approach will hopefully contribute to counteract current Swedish problems associated with a simplified approach to gender, race and men’s violence against women.

This article deals with the ways in which gender and race are recognized and addressed in Swedish criminal and alien law with reference to men’s violence against women with insecure residency. It offers an analysis of Swedish preparatory works and case law which seeks to unmask and problematize intersecting power structures and discourses in law. The analysis shows that a perspective on men’s violence against women as related to gender and power to some extent has been implemented in and had significant effects on criminal law, while the significance of race and racism has not been properly acknowledged. Swedish alien law is blatantly lacking in an understanding both in terms of gender power relations and of the ways in which men’s violence against women can be racialized or culturalized. The main conclusion is that there are significant processes of ‘othering’ abused women in both legal areas, but especially in alien law where abused migrant women are constructed as unwanted in the Swedish society when no longer fulfilling their function as men’s partners. The author argues that the notions that men’s violence against women always harms women and is about the assertion of power and control over women should be placed at the centre of an intersectional approach to law and policy. Such an approach will hopefully contribute to counteract current Swedish problems associated with a simplified approach to gender, race and men’s violence against women.

The aim of this article is to map the Swedish context regarding men’s intimate partner violence against Sami women and (1) discuss what knowledge and perspectives that dominates that context, and (2) reflect upon possible starting points formeeting the need for knowledge. The outline shows that men’s intimate partner violence against Sami women is a blind spot in Sweden. Important aspects, such as human rights and colonialism, are neglected in the policy discourse. At the most, the policy discourse includes abused Sami women in the problematic category “particular vulnerable groups”. The author argues for a need to problematize if and how responsibility is taken for addressing and responding to the violence and suggests a postcolonial and intersectional approach that centers around how the imbalance of power and control runs through abused women’s experiences. Finally, the author highlights how such an approach also is a matter of indigenous research ethics.

I denna artikel problematiseras rättsutvecklingen av ungdomspåföljderna ur ett barnrättsperspektiv, med fokus på påföljden ungdomsvård och dess föregångare. Det huvudsakliga intresset är inriktat mot att bidra till den straffrättspolitiska diskussionen genom att visa hur den spänning mellan behandling och förtjänst som finns i straffrätten kan förstås och utmanas ur ett barnrättsperspektiv. Artikeln beskriver vilka rättigheter barn som begår brott har enligt internationell barnrätt, hur den svenska rättsutvecklingen på området ser ut samt belyser hur barns rättigheter har synliggjorts i straffrättsliga förarbeten. Författaren visar bl.a. på hur olika påföljdsfrågor kan vara problematiska ur ett barnrättsperspektiv och argumenterar för att barns rättigheter inte nämnvärt har inverkat på rättsutvecklingen av påföljden ungdomsvård trots att barnperspektiv har lyfts fram som en väsentlig aspekt under senare tids reformer.

The issue of the Islamic headscarf has been in the centre of the political debate whether it fits into the Western culture or not. Several member-states in the European Union have issued laws and regulations that impose restrictions on wearing the Islamic headscarf in the public sphere. Even some EU courts have ruled such restrictions imposed by member-states. Recently, this issue has been discussed in the context of the occupational life. In a dispute before the European Court of Justice, the ban was considered as legitimate. In this research, I analyse the judgment from a socio-legal perspective and analyse the intersectional identity of Mrs. Achbita who is a party in the dispute, considering that she belongs to the social category of veiled working Muslim women.

This paper deals with the negotiations and the decision-making process related to the nationalisation of the GDG rail network in Sweden during the period 1939–47. It highlights some of the distinct features of the railway nationalisation process in Sweden. It is noted that the nationalisation of GDG was exposed to factors and contexts that had not been anticipated when Parliament made the policy decision to nationalise the non-State railways in 1939. During World War II, the financial situation of GDG had benefited from new transport conditions which limited road–rail competition. Furthermore, the Social Democrats began to implement a more active transport policy as part of their post-war economic policy. This led to an outcome in 1947 where the GDG shareholders were compensated more generously than they would have been in 1939.

During the period 1991–2004, political support for the inheritance and gift taxation in Sweden diminished, which contributed to two major policy shifts. In 1991, a new tax schedule which reduced top rates was introduced. The tax was thereafter completely repealed in 2004. In this paper, we examine how background factors such as competitiveness and political legitimacy influenced these decisions. By studying the preceding decision-making processes, we find that the influence of these factors shifted over time and appeared in different combinations. While the 1991 reform was strongly influenced by competitiveness arguments, the repeal of the inheritance and gift tax was primarily a result of the declining legitimacy of the tax.

This article concerns the interaction between masculinity norms expressed in case-law from the Swedish Supreme Court and the legal construction of the right to self-defence in Swedish criminal law and how this interaction contributes to the normalisation of men’s violent acts. A discourse analysis is done on the four cases of the last twenty years from the Supreme Court that deals specifically with the right to self-defence in a man-to-man violence context. The theoretical starting points are firstly that masculinities are relational, diverse and hierarchical and that gender is a way of ordering social practices. Secondly, that violence is a way of doing or achieving masculinity although masculinities relate to violence in different ways. As the legislation on violent crimes in most cases is applied on men’s violent acts, the relationship between masculinities and violence is of great importance when discussing violence and law.

The findings of the analysis are that there is room for gender norms and ideals to have an impact on decisions in the criminal justice system while at the same time criminal law and the criminal justice system have an impact on gender norms. Through this interaction criminal law and the application of it contributes to the normalisation of men’s violent acts.  The importance of looking at how gender intersects with other structures of power is stressed as well as looking at violence and law in their contexts. The conclusion is that analysing the relations between masculinities, violence and law reveals law’s open-endedness. While this open-endedness brings with it uncertainty and unpredictability it also makes law an arena for struggle and change.

According to Swedish law, a 'Special Representative for Children' is to be appointed for a child victim, where a crime against the child is suspected which may carry a prison sentence, and where the child's guardian (i.e. normally the parent) is the suspect, or where a guardian may, as a result of his or her relationship to the suspect, not protect the rights of the child. In this chapter, I analyse the act and the role(s) of the special representative for children in the context of Swedish Barnahus. The "child focus" in Barnahus is explored from a rights-based perspective. The potential of the child’s independent legal representative is highlighted, inter alia in having a close and thorough view of the child's needs and wishes.