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Icke-produktivitet och svaga tankar : en feministisk genealogi från 1970-talets Sverige

Suneson, Ellen LU (2026) In K & K
Abstract (Swedish)
In Swedish feminist debates of the 1960s and 1970s, the productive woman was frequently constructed as the binary opposite of the non-productive woman. The former was associated with liberation, moral integrity, and independence. The latter was characterized in terms of passivity, laziness, and dependence. By engaging in paid labour, or by otherwise demonstrating her contribution to the greater good of society, the productive woman was envisioned to attain the same social status as men. These feminist ideals - emphasizing liberation as contingent upon work and a strong work ethic - were shaped in close dialogue with modernist and welfare-state ideologies. This strong emphasis on productivity, and the corresponding disdain for... (More)
In Swedish feminist debates of the 1960s and 1970s, the productive woman was frequently constructed as the binary opposite of the non-productive woman. The former was associated with liberation, moral integrity, and independence. The latter was characterized in terms of passivity, laziness, and dependence. By engaging in paid labour, or by otherwise demonstrating her contribution to the greater good of society, the productive woman was envisioned to attain the same social status as men. These feminist ideals - emphasizing liberation as contingent upon work and a strong work ethic - were shaped in close dialogue with modernist and welfare-state ideologies. This strong emphasis on productivity, and the corresponding disdain for non-productivity, in dominant narratives of postwar feminism tended to reaffirm, rather than challenge, capitalist market logics.

This article examines exceptions to the strong emphasis on productivity during the 1970s, focusing on two key examples: Marie-Louise Ekman’s art project "Utvikningsflicka: Marie-Louise De Geer, photographed by Carl Johan De Geer" and Ingamaj Beck’s engagement with the concepts of “unnecessary art” and “weak thought”. Through the lens of feminist anti-work theory, the article suggests that Ekman’s and Beck’s positions articulate an attempt to think beyond capitalist market rationalities. Placed in dialogue with similar artistic interventions from the 1970s these works enable, I argue, the identification of an alternative feminist genealogy in a Swedish context, in which work and productivity are no longer central normative ideals.
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author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
in press
subject
keywords
Non-productivity, Feminism, Historiography, Marie-Louise Ekman, Imgamaj Beck, Passivity, Welfare ideology, 1970, Anti-work
in
K & K
publisher
Forlaget Medusa
ISSN
0905-6998
language
Swedish
LU publication?
yes
additional info
ELLEN SUNESON, postdok i konsthistoria, Vetenskapsrådets internationella postdokstipendium, Lunds universitet/Köpenhamns universitet. Disputerade med avhandlingen Portraying Unease: the Art and Politics of Uncomfortable Attachments (Makadam Förlag, 2022). Hennes forskning undersöker metod och metodologi, med ett särskilt fokus på epistemologiska antaganden inom konsthistoria. Senare publikationer inkluderar ”Scholarly Embarrassment: On the Problems and Limitations of Feminist Scholars’ Search for Art’s Political Utility.” Är biträdande redaktör på den internationella fackgranskade tidskriften Journal of Aesthetics and Culture.
id
311b351f-c03a-465d-9b28-069e8ef90ccc
date added to LUP
2026-03-20 10:36:32
date last changed
2026-03-26 13:59:04
@article{311b351f-c03a-465d-9b28-069e8ef90ccc,
  abstract     = {{In Swedish feminist debates of the 1960s and 1970s, the productive woman was frequently constructed as the binary opposite of the non-productive woman. The former was associated with liberation, moral integrity, and independence. The latter was characterized in terms of passivity, laziness, and dependence. By engaging in paid labour, or by otherwise demonstrating her contribution to the greater good of society, the productive woman was envisioned to attain the same social status as men. These feminist ideals - emphasizing liberation as contingent upon work and a strong work ethic - were shaped in close dialogue with modernist and welfare-state ideologies. This strong emphasis on productivity, and the corresponding disdain for non-productivity, in dominant narratives of postwar feminism tended to reaffirm, rather than challenge, capitalist market logics.<br/><br/>This article examines exceptions to the strong emphasis on productivity during the 1970s, focusing on two key examples: Marie-Louise Ekman’s art project "Utvikningsflicka: Marie-Louise De Geer, photographed by Carl Johan De Geer" and Ingamaj Beck’s engagement with the concepts of “unnecessary art” and “weak thought”. Through the lens of feminist anti-work theory, the article suggests that Ekman’s and Beck’s positions articulate an attempt to think beyond capitalist market rationalities. Placed in dialogue with similar artistic interventions from the 1970s these works enable, I argue, the identification of an alternative feminist genealogy in a Swedish context, in which work and productivity are no longer central normative ideals.<br/>}},
  author       = {{Suneson, Ellen}},
  issn         = {{0905-6998}},
  keywords     = {{Non-productivity; Feminism; Historiography; Marie-Louise Ekman; Imgamaj Beck; Passivity; Welfare ideology; 1970; Anti-work}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  publisher    = {{Forlaget Medusa}},
  series       = {{K & K}},
  title        = {{Icke-produktivitet och svaga tankar : en feministisk genealogi från 1970-talets Sverige}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}