COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE SPHERE OF FEMINISM IN POLITICS OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORWAY

Сравнительный анализ достижений в области феминизма в политике Великобритании

и Норвегии

Comparative analysis of achievements in the sphere of feminism in politics of Great Britain

and Norway

Павленко Надежда Романовна

Студентка 3 курса Направление подготовки: Зарубежное регионоведение Северный (Арктический) федеральный университет им. М.В.Ломоносова

Россия, Архангельск e-mail: nadya.pavlenko. 99@mail.ru

Pavlenko Nadezhda Romanovna

Russia, Arkhangelsk e-mail: nadya.pavlenko. 99@mail.ru

Научный руководитель Щукина Ольга Алексеевна

Северный (Арктический) федеральный университет им. М.В.Ломоносова

Россия, Архангельск e-mail: o.borskaya@narfu.ru

Scientific adviser Shchukina Olga Alekseevna

Northern (Arctic) Federal University named after M. V. Lomonosov

Russia, Arkhangelsk e-mail: o.borskaya@narfu.ru

Аннотация.

В статье дается сравнительный анализ феминистских достижений в политических сферах Великобритании и Норвегии. Уделяется внимание понятию «феминизм», а также истории борьбы женщин за свои права в рассматриваемых странах. Анализируются процессы женского движения. На основании проведенного исследования в статье определена наиболее активная страна с точки зрения феминистских достижений.

Annotation.

The article gives a comparative analysis of feminist achievements in the political spheres of Great Britain and Norway. Much attention is given to definition of the word «feminism» and the history of women&s struggle for their rights in these countries. The processes of women&s movement have been analyzed. As a result, on the basis of the conducted research there has been identified the most active country in terms of feminist achievements.

The history of women&s struggle for their rights is a part of world&s history. In recent years the number of discussions and scandals related to gender discrimination has increased, and interest in the study of feminism has grown as well. Basic concepts of this phenomenon have become a part of scientific research and curriculum. Both Great Britain and Norway are the countries where the women&s struggle against discrimination is really dynamic, and each has its distinctive features and achievements in the sphere of feminism.

First of all, it is necessary to determine the meaning of the term «feminism». According to A. A. Denisova, feminism is the theory of gender equality, underlying women&s liberation movement [1]. Often this term is interpreted more widely - as different actions for the protection of women&s rights. Gender equality implies that men and women

must have equal access to social and political recourses. This work gives an analysis of women&s participation in politics, women&s representation in the parliaments in particular.

Each country has its masterminds of women&s movement. For example, the first British feminists are Aphra Behn, Mary Astell and Mary Wollstonecraft. They are the authors of outstanding works. Astell is the author of «A Serious Proposal to the Ladies, for the Advancement of Their True and Greatest Interest» (1694) and «A Serious Proposal, Part II» (1697). Wollstonecraft wrote an issue «A Vindication of the Right of Women». The first feminist of Norway is Camilla Collett. Her main work is «Amtmandens D0ttre». She was the first who wrote about women&s difficulties and problems in patriarchal society.

In order to define the role of women in the political sphere of the countries, it is necessary to focus on the percentage of women in their parliaments.

Table 1. The percentage of women in parliaments

Norway Great Britain

It should be stated that the average share of women in parliaments in the world in 2017 was 23.4%, but Norway and Great Britain overcame this index much earlier.

Analyzing the data in the table, it can be noted that Norway leads in the number of women in parliament, but the progress of Great Britain is more obvious: over 27 years the number of women in parliament increased 5 times.

This result is achieved thanks to the system of quota introduced in 1997 when the head of Conservative party urged to nominate 100 women at the next election. The company was continued in 1989 by Labor party: its each member must vote for three women. In Norway quoting was applied in 1975 by socialist left party (and all parties accepted this system in 15 years) and suggested that the parliament should include 40% of women. You may notice that the quota system in the UK was not as clear as in Norway.

Also, one more important thing is the year of women&s getting a right to vote. Great Britain in this case is more conservative: British women got the right to vote only in 1918, while the Norwegian women - in 1913. Moreover, British women younger than 30 could not vote. Women were granted suffrage equal to men in 1928 under the Representation of the People (Equal Franchise Act).

In the formation of gender equality in politics, women&s parties play an important role. As opposite to Norway, there is no separate women&s party in the UK now. Conservative party had the «female image» a few decades ago because of its contacts with the suffragists of the 20th century. Within this party the meetings of a women&s conservative organization were held, but these meetings didn&t have a significant influence in the beginning of the 20th century. It is worth noting that Margaret Thatcher was elected by Conservative party. Labor Party began to include the democratization of gender relations in politics only in 1970s. Labor Women Action Committee was formed in 1980. There is an opinion that Labor party took over the women&s image from Conservative party thanks to the work of this Committee.

In Norway, the Social Democratic Labor Party, established in 1887, has traditionally been promoting women&s rights in politics. In addition, there has been a separate women&s party since 2015 - the Feminist Initiative, but it has not won seats in Storting.

Besides, for analyzing feminist activity it is important to remember the most known women in the politics of Great Britain and Norway. The first woman in the Parliament of Great Britain was Nancy Astor (1919). She held right-wing views, was deeply religious and often transferred her views and beliefs to politics. Also, an important figure in Great

Britain is Eleanor Rathbone (1929). She made a significant contribution to the mother&s empowerment. The first woman in Storting is Karen Platou (1922).

Female Prime Ministers have a huge influence on politics as well. The role of Margaret Thatcher in the politics cannot be overemphasized. She was the first female Prime Minister. However, the opinions of researchers on what Thatcher did to eliminate discrimination are different. She mostly devoted herself to global issues of foreign and domestic policy and often was conservative in the definition of women&s role. Gro Harlem Brundland was Norwegian Prime Minister in 3 terms, starting with 1981. Thanks to Bruntland, more women began to appear in Norway&s politics. Since May 1986, when the second Social Democratic government headed by Brundtland was formed, each Norwegian cabinet has included more than 35% of female ministers. Often they held very prestigious offices, like ministers of foreign affairs, finance and justice.

Theresa May is the current Prime Minister of Great Britain, starting with 2016 (previously she was Internal Affairs Minister and the Minister for Women and Equality). Her candidacy was also nominated by a Conservative Party. Remarkably, Theresa May fights for equal rights in general, not just for equalizing the rights of women and men (for example, the rights of sexual minorities). Erna Solberg is the current PM of Norway, starting with 2013.

And the important fact is that for the past 70 years Great Britain has been ruled by Queen Elizabeth II.

Currently, the fifth part of the United Kingdom government is women:

- Secretary of State for the Home Department - Amber Rudd;

- Secretary of State for Education, Minister for Women and Equalities - Justine Greening;

- Leader of the House of Lords, Lord Privy Seal - The Baroness Evans of Bowes Park;

- Secretary of State for International Development - Penny Mordaunt;

- Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport - Karen Bradley;

- Leader of the House of Commons, Lord President of the Council - Andrea Leadsom;

- Chief Secretary to the Treasury - Elizabeth Truss;

- Secretary of state for Labor - Ester McVey.

In Norway, women occupy almost half of the total number of ministers:

- Minister of Finance - Siv Jensen;

- Minister of Local Government and Modernisation - Monica Msland;

- Minister of Foreign Affairs - Ine Marie Eriksen S0reide;

- Minister of Agriculture - Olaug Bollestad;

- Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion - Linda Hofstad Helleland;

- Minister of Migration and Integration - Sylvi Listhaug;

- Minister of European Affairs and Nordic Cooperation - Marit Berger R0sland;

- Minister of Labor and Social Affairs - Anniken Hauglie.

It is worth paying attention to the fact that, according to the results of the parliamentary elections of 2013 and 2017, women occupy the posts that, as is commonly believed, belong to men - the post of Minister of Defense, as well as Industry and Fisheries - for example, Elizabeth Aspacker (in 2013).

A comparative table based on the studied data is presented hereunder.

Table 2. Comparative analysis of achievements in the sphere of feminism

Norway Great Britain

Women in the parliament (2017) 40,8% 32%

Number of female ministers About 50% About 20%

Women&s parties «Feminist Initiative» Getting of a right to vote 1913 1918 (1928)

Based on the data presented above, it can be defined that Great Britain now lags behind Norway at all points. Feminism in Norway is more successful because Nordic countries realize the model of Scandinavian welfare state, and feminism is one of the most important points of this model. There is a special term in Norway, namely «welfare feminism». It means that gender equality is the responsibility of state, and it must be implemented through governmental agencies.

However, the UK has its own achievements in this area. England is the birthplace of suffragism movement (the Society of Women&s Electoral Law), which arose in the beginning of the 20th century. It is there a woman got the office of Prime Minister for the first time in European history, it was in 1979 - earlier, than it happened in Norway. Not so long ago, the order of succession to the throne has changed for the first time in more than 3 centuries (The Succession to the Crown Act 2013). According to the new law, the eldest child will inherit the title of monarch, regardless of gender. An interesting fact: in the studies of 2010 and earlier, the UK is called a country that has not achieved much success in the sphere of feminism; but in articles published later, it has the status of "the country of winning feminism". So, Great Britain has great progress in this area and is gradually approaching the achievements of the Scandinavian countries, and in particular of Norway.

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