By Erla Sigurðardóttir
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| Illustrationphoto: Colurbox |
In the report, gender scholars Dr. Þorgerður Einarsdóttir and Dr. Gyða Margrét Pétursdóttir give an account of the ways in which hegemonic masculinity and nation-centric masculinity ideals influenced the ideology behind the events leading to the Icelandic financial sector’s breakdown in 2008.
It is no secret that the ideology spawning the financial bubble was characterised by masculine values. As the Icelandic bank sector collapsed in the autumn of 2008, many people called for “feminine values” supposedly capable of salvaging the country from utter ruin. Women were more or less absent in the financial leapfrog, but in the midst of the chaos it remained unclear what exactly those coveted “feminine values” were.
A new chapter in the gender equality debates
On April 12, 2010, the Althing’s special commission of inquiry, led by Supreme Court Judge Páll Hreinsson, presented a comprehensive report on the background and reasons for the Icelandic financial collapse. Subsequently, a commission of MPs – assigned to draft proposals based on the conclusions of the report – ordered a gender-theoretical summary.
– The gender-theoretical elucidation marks a new chapter in the Icelandic gender equality debates, says commission chair Atli Gíslason (Left-Green Movement) and adds that the gender-theoretical summary of the report was crucial to an improved understanding of how things could go so wrong.
Hegemonic masculinity
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| Þorgerður Einarsdóttir has analysed the Icelandic bank collapse from a gender perspective. |
Two prominent gender scholars, Dr. Þorgerður Einarsdóttir and Dr. Gyða Margrét Pétursdóttir, were commissioned to present the report using theoretical tools from gender studies. They availed themselves of concepts from masculinity studies, such as hegemonic masculinity and emphasised femininity, to describe the social as well as cultural notions of gender that had played a major part in the unfortunate development during which masculine values were privileged and propped up by feminine qualities.
According to the authors, the economic politics leading to the collapse had an indirect gender perspective. Heavy industry, tax politics and housing politics favoured men at the expense of the female population. Moreover, the financial sector was governed by a small homogenous group of men rewarding each other on the grounds of subjective evaluations.
Nation-centric masculinity
When banks were privatised in 1998–2002, the party leaders of the government in power shared the booty between their favourites. Non-transparent skill requirements seemed custom-made for the desired candidates. The scholars account for the ways in which the laissez-faire ideology and mindset of privatisation were characterised by cultural notions of a masculinity that came to play the starring role in the continued development.
– Nation-centric masculinity ideals about Icelandic men’s superiority helped justify the ever-escalating development, Þorgerður Einarsdóttir explains. She points out that not only bankers, but also rulers supported this ideology. Ministers, and even the president, talked of tycoon intuition and brilliance in line with hegemonic masculinity.
The actors’ mutual competition concomitant with their looking out for each other’s interests played a major role on the banking sector outgrowing every reasonable proportion.
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| A demonstration on the occasion of the general election concerning an Icesave act was held in Reykjavík on March 6, 2010. Photo: Ane Cecilie Blichfeldt/norden.org |
– Important consultations and decisions were made in informal networks between ministers and bankers who were often each other’s neighbours or former classmates, Þorgerður Einarsdóttir continues. Democratic rules of the game, such as formal meetings and minutes, were either insufficient or non-existent.
Risk of ruin or foolhardiness
The self-created myth of the Icelandic bankers’ competence and superiority, grounded in a pristine Viking spirit of yore, helped justify their astronomic wages. In other countries, people were questioning the Icelandic foolhardiness which had to do with lack of knowledge and experience. Hence, they did not compete with the Icelandic highest bidders expanding their territory abroad.
At the same time, bankers looked out for one another’s interests by granting themselves and each other unfathomable loans to allow the pyramid game to continue. Men were starring in this game, while relatively few women were supporting actresses, most often as trophy wives.
Active use of legislation and gender mainstreaming
The gender-theoretical summary of the report of investigation will result in 11 concrete proposals concerning how legislation and gender mainstreaming may facilitate moving forward and avoid past mistakes where men look out for each other’s best interests via informal and non-transparent networks.
Among other things, the scholars suggest that authorities make sure that enterprises abide by the laws regarding gender representation on boards of joint-stock companies – and consider sanctions if rules are not observed. Gender mainstreaming in public administration would ensure that both genders have equal access to information and decision-making processes.
