Article Sidebar

Download
PDF
Statistic
Read Counter : 133 Download : 108

Main Article Content

Abstract

In 2017, Sweden built women entrepreneurship (SHE-Leads Program) in Saudi Arabia to foster networks, meetings, and educational opportunities to train Saudi Arabian women as entrepreneurs and innovators. The aim of this study is to elucidate how did Sweden’s feminist foreign policy build women’s entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia 2017-2021. This study was conducted using interview method by electronic mail with Monika Wirkkala, Director of the Department of Communication and Analysis of Sweden at the Swedish Institute (SI). The data are analyzed using the feminist foreign policy concept proposed by Cheung, Gürsel, Kirchner, & Scheyer, which encompasses five core values of feminist foreign policy. The results were as follows: (1) intersectionality, Sweden applied this policy fairly without any differentiation among participants; (2) empathetic reflectivity, Swedish leaders and stakeholders responded positively to this policy by developing SHE-Pioneer; (3) substantive representation and participation, Sweden actively engaged women from the Swedish Institute (SI) and collaborated with non-state actors in formulating and implementing policies; (4) accountability, the policy incorporates evaluation and monitoring, involving program participants, stakeholders, and partners; (5) commitment to peace, the SHE-Leads Program policy is implemented through collaboration, involving participants from diverse backgrounds, and aims to strengthen relations between Sweden and Saudi Arabia. This study concluded that Sweden feminist foreign policy in building women entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia (SHE-Leads Program) has reflected Sweden feminist foreign policy and has implemented the five core values of the feminist foreign policy concept.

Keywords

Sweden Femiist Foreign Policy Women Entrepreneurship Saudi Arabia

Article Details

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How to Cite
Aliffitria, B., Yani, Y. M., & Yulianti, D. (2023). Sweden Feminist Foreign Policy in Building Women Entrepreneurship (SHE-Leads Program) in Saudi Arabia 2017-2021. Ilomata International Journal of Social Science, 4(4), 607-621. https://doi.org/10.52728/ijss.v4i4.927

References

  1. Aggestam, K., Rosamond, A. B., & Hedling, E. (2022). Feminist digital diplomacy and foreign policy change in Sweden. Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, 18(4), 314–324. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41254-021-00225-3
  2. Alkhaled, S., & Berglund, K. (2018). ‘And now I’m free’: Women’s empowerment and emancipation through entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia and Sweden. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, 30(7–8), 877–900. https://doi.org/10.1080/08985626.2018.1500645
  3. Alsaleh, S. A. (2012). Gender Inequality in Saudi Arabia : Myth and Reality. Proceedings of Economics Development & Research, 123–130. http://ipedr.com/vol39/025-ICITE2012-K00003.pdf
  4. Alwan, M. C., & Weldon, L. (2017). What is Feminist Policy? An Exploratory Evaluation of Foreign Policy in OECD Countries. European Conference on Politics and Gender. https://ecpr.eu/Filestore/PaperProposal/05def9c8-34c6-4415-8df1-55144d2fd016.pdf
  5. Beach, D. (2019). Introduction: Analyzing Foreign Policy. Springer.
  6. Bojang, A. S. (2018). The Study of Foreign Policy in International Relations. Journal of Political Sciences & Public Affairs, 6(4), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.4172/2332-0761.1000337
  7. Borquist, B. R., & de Bruin, A. (2019). Values and women-led social entrepreneurship. International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, 11(2), 146–165. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJGE-08-2018-0093
  8. Boyfield, K. (2022). Saudi Arabia Strengthens Its Trading Ties With Sweden. https://www.egic.info/saudi-arabia-strengthens-its-trading-ties-with-sweden
  9. Chaker, H., & Zouaoui, S. (2023). Meeting the Challenge of Entrepreneurship with Social Media: The Case of Tunisian Women Entrepreneurs. Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies, 9(1), 33–61. https://doi.org/10.1177/23939575221138439
  10. Cheung, J., Gürsel, D., Kirchner, M. J., & Scheyer, V. (2021). Practicing Feminist Foreign Policy in the Everyday: A Toolkit. Heinrich Böll Foundation. https://eu.boell.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/211112_WILPF_FFP_Toolkit.pdf
  11. Creswell, J. W. (2009). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches (3rd ed.). Sage Publications, Inc.
  12. Crouch, D. (2015). Sweden’s foreign minister unrepentant over Saudi flogging row. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/08/swedens-foreign-minister-unrepentant-over-saudi-flogging-row
  13. Danish, A. Y., & Smith, H. L. (2012). Female Entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia: Opportunities and Challenges. International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, 216–235. https://doi.org/10.1108/17566261211264136
  14. Dutta, S. (2020). Promoting women’s entrepreneurship in distribution of energy technologies: Lessons from ENERGIA’s WEE programme. IDS Bulletin, 51(1), 71–90. https://doi.org/10.19088/1968-2020.106
  15. Irsten, G. (2019). How Feminist is the Swedish Feminist Foreign Policy? https://www.boell.de/en/2019/08/28/how-feminist-swedish-feminist-foreign-policy
  16. Khan, G. A. (2017). Program launched to train Saudi female entrepreneurs, innovators in Sweden. https://www.arabnews.com/node/1213761/saudi-arabia
  17. Kuovo, S. (2019). A Challenging Agenda for Troubled Times: The Swedish Feminist Foreign Policy (pp. 65–88). Retfærd. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344803296_A_Challenging_Agenda_for_Troubled_Times_The_Swedish_Feminist_Foreign_Policy
  18. Miles, M. B., Huberman, A. M., & Saldaña, J. (2014). Qualitative Data Analysis. Arizona State University.
  19. Nye, J. S. (2023). Global Soft Power Index 2017-2021. https://brandirectory.com/softpower/report
  20. O.E.C.D. (2018). Is the Last Mile the Longest? Economic Gains from Gender Equality in Nordic Countries. https://www.oecd.org/els/emp/last-mile-longest-gender-nordic-countries-brief.pdf
  21. Panta, S. K., & Thapa, B. (2018). Entrepreneurship and women’s empowerment in gateway communities of Bardia National Park, Nepal. Journal of Ecotourism, 17(1), 20–42. https://doi.org/10.1080/14724049.2017.1299743
  22. Perekrestova, V. (2022). Normative coherence through social entrepreneurship: Fostering women’s empowerment in Myanmar. Development Policy Review, 40(S1). https://doi.org/10.1111/dpr.12627
  23. Raman, R., Subramaniam, N., Nair, V. K., Shivdas, A., Achuthan, K., & Nedungadi, P. (2022). Women Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Development: Bibliometric Analysis and Emerging Research Trends. Sustainability (Switzerland), 14(15). https://doi.org/10.3390/su14159160
  24. Robinson, F. (2019). Feminist foreign policy as. Journal of International Political Theory, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1177/1755088219828768
  25. Syed, J., Ali, F., & Hennekam, S. (2018). Gender Equality in Employment in Saudi Arabia: A Relational Perspective. Career Development International, 163–177. https://doi.org/10.1108/CDI-07-2017-0126
  26. Taylor, A. (2015). Sweden stood up for human rights in Saudi Arabia. This is how Saudi Arabia is punishing Sweden. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/03/20/sweden-stood-up-for-human-rights-in-saudi-arabia-this-is-how-saudi-arabia-is-punishing-sweden/
  27. Thomas, P. V, & Jose, S. (2020). Engaging and promoting young women’s entrepreneurship: A challenge to social work. International Social Work, 63(1), 69–75. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020872818783243
  28. Thompson, L., & Clement, R. (2019). Defining Feminist Foreign Policy. https://www.icrw.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/ICRW_DefiningFeministForeignPolicy_Brief_Revised_v5_WebReady.pdf
  29. Wirkkala, M. (2023). SHE Leadership Programme. Swedish Institute.
  30. World Economic Forum. (2017). Global Gender Gap Report 2017. Geneva: World Economic Forum.
  31. World Economic Forum. (2017). The Global Gender Gap Report 2017. Geneva: World Economic Forum. Retrieved from https://www.weforum.org/reports/the-global-gender-gap-report-2017
  32. World Economic Forum. (2017). The Global Gender Gap Report 2017. Geneva: World Economic Forum. Retrieved from http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GGGR_2017.pdf
  33. World Economic Forum. (2020). Global Gender Gap Report 2020. Geneva: World Economic Forum.
  34. World Economic Forum. (2021). Global Gender Gap Report 2021. Geneva: World Economic Forum.
  35. World Economic Forum. (2022). Global Gender Gap Index 2022. Geneva: World Economic Forum.
  36. World Governance Indicators. (2022, September 2023). World Governance Indicators. Retrieved from World Governance Indicators: https://info.worldbank.org/governance/wgi/
  37. Zhukova, E., Sundström, M. R., & Elgström, O. (2021). Feminist foreign policies (FFPs) as strategic narratives: Norm translation in Sweden, Canada, France, and Mexico. Review of International Studies, 1–22. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/review-of-international-studies/article/feminist-foreign-policies-ffps-as-strategic-narratives-norm-translation-in-sweden-canada-france-and-mexico/AB4704BB59AC904F4FE0989049D19FEC
  38. Zimmerman, S. (2020). The Value of a Feminist Foreign Policy. Women in International Security. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339541085_The_Value_of_a_Feminist_Foreign_Policy

Most read articles by the same author(s)