Feminist scholarship and activism have sought to respond humanitarian crises, such as disasters and conflict, within and across borders. It can be argued that feminists have succeeded institutionalising gender mainstreaming through the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 and the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda, creating a framework of institutional mechanisms for governments and international organisations to include a gender perspective in their activities. Some Governments have also taken on themselves to implement gender perspectives in their international development and diplomatic work, as well as in their foreign policy (Egnell 2016; Aggestam and Towns 2018; Aggestam, Bergman Rosamond and Kronsell 2018). Yet, feminist scholarship has efficiently problematised the gendered, colonial and racialised dimensions and underpinnings of statecraft and inter-state relations, including conflict, economic policy, and diplomacy (Parashar and D’Costa 2018; Achilleos-Sarll 2018).

This paper builds on the growing academic interest in the Swedish agenda feminist foreign policy (FFP) (Aggestam and Bergman-Rosamond 2016), focusing specifically on the 2014-2018 coalition Government between the Social Democratic and Green parties. In 2014, the then Minister of Foreign Affairs, Margot Wallström, proudly announced that the newly formed Government would pursue a new foreign policy based on feminist principles, aiming to strive towards gender equality and the fulfilment of women and girls’ human rights.

My analysis of the Statements of Foreign Policy, presented annually by Wallström between 2014 and 2018, sheds light on a foreign policy based on diplomacy, dialogue and cooperation, highlighting key themes of democracy, trust in international institutions, and the importance of dialogue. Yet, a deeper analysis reveals a narrative of “good” states, “bad” states, and “states in need”. Hence, I argue that the FFP agenda was deeply embedded in state-centred neo-liberal, capitalist institutionalism that served to uphold colonial and capitalist global border regimes. While some scholars have argued that the agenda will serve to establish norms of diplomacy, dialogue and collaboration, as well as equality and gender equality, I hold that we need to be critical of how the FFP agenda as formulated by the previous Swedish Government reinforced gendered, racialised, sexual and colonial border regimes.

Dr Emma Brännlund is a Senior Lecturer in International Relations at the Department of Health and Social Sciences, at UWE Bristol, where she teaches feminist international relations, foreign policy, research methods, and South Asian politics. Emma completed her PhD at the Global Women’s Studies Programme, NUI Galway, on women’s activism in Kashmir. In her work, she is interested in understanding how security and conflict shape gender norms and practices. Her research interests include feminism and gender studies, international relations, in/security, South Asia, and research methods (particularly around narratives). Emma’s first monograph, Gender, Conflict and Political Activism: Telling In/Security in Kashmir, is due to be published by Routledge in early 2020.

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