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The significance of feminist infrastructure: #MeToo in the construction industry and the green industry in Sweden

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  • Karin Hansson
  • Hillevi Ganetz
  • Malin Sveningsson

Abstract

To better understand the interplay between digital activism and feminist infrastructure, this study investigates #MeToo activism in the Swedish construction industry and green industry. Both are industries in transition characterized by a dissonance between formal incentives, that encourage women and others to work in environments previously dominated by white men, and the informal power structures hosting a toxic masculinity. Based on media texts and interviews with key persons from the industries, the article situates #MeToo in a local context and shows how it was embedded in a supportive social, cultural, and technical infrastructure. In both industries, at the time of #MeToo this feminist infrastructure was already in place consisting of: an awareness of the problem of sexual harassment and abuse, knowledge of feminist explanatory models, established feminist online networks, and a supportive feminist culture, which together with widespread digital and feminist literacy became instrumental in the organization of the movement. Social media connected activists and created a critical mass by supporting the uniting of conflicting identity positions around shared differences. The established feminist infrastructure meant that the #MeToo activism, by articulating a widespread affective dissonance, pushed open doors that were already half open and forced them wide. This can explain some of the movement's success in Sweden.

Suggested Citation

  • Karin Hansson & Hillevi Ganetz & Malin Sveningsson, 2024. "The significance of feminist infrastructure: #MeToo in the construction industry and the green industry in Sweden," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(3), pages 1092-1112, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:gender:v:31:y:2024:i:3:p:1092-1112
    DOI: 10.1111/gwao.12994
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Lynne F. Baxter, 2021. "The importance of vibrant materialities in transforming affective dissonance into affective solidarity: How the Countess Ablaze organized the Tits Out Collective," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(3), pages 898-916, May.
    2. Aida Alvinius & Arita Holmberg, 2019. "Silence‐breaking butterfly effect: Resistance towards the military within #MeToo," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(9), pages 1255-1270, September.
    3. Shu-Ling Lu & Martin Sexton, 2010. "Career journeys and turning points of senior female managers in small construction firms," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(2), pages 125-139.
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