Over the past 20-30 years, relations between men and women have changed radically in politics, on the labor market and in the family. A recurring theme in the public debate is how to interpret the development and what to expect in the future. Can we reasonably expect that the gender balance of power and influence will gradually and automatically equalize?

In The Shifting Gender Power, different researchers share their views on changes in gender and power and describe crucial factors and actors in various fields: legislation on family and prostitution, management and elite positions, care professions, trade unions, political parties, every-day life and ethnicity, as well as discourses on gender, power and equality. With its wide range of definitions of power and gender and the great variation in approach and style, the book illustrates that it is difficult to unequivocally decide whether the equality process is moving forward or whether continuity is basically the best word to describe the genders’ social power and influence.