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Cracking the Glass Ceiling: The Story of the Election Process in the Norwegian Farmers Union in 1997
Author(s) -
Verstad Berit
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
sociologia ruralis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.005
H-Index - 84
eISSN - 1467-9523
pISSN - 0038-0199
DOI - 10.1111/1467-9523.00086
Subject(s) - norwegian , glass ceiling , vision , rhetoric , gender studies , political science , sociology , law , linguistics , philosophy , anthropology
The main issue in this article is whether cracking the glass ceiling of the Norwegian Farmers Union indicates a ‘new’ organization based on equal opportunities between the sexes. By way of illustration, different meanings of gender and leadership embedded in the rhetoric and arguments produced in the process leading to the election of the first woman president are analysed. The rhetorics expressed by the press, the election committee and the candidates are deconstructed. The analysis indicates that the organization is becoming less discriminatory, and that both women’s and men’s range of possibilities have increased. The gender perspective suggests that concrete changes depend on who participates in the discussions, their perception of gender, their conceptions of leadership, and their visions for the organization.