Welfare state and public policies for women in nordic countries and Latin America: From civil society to institutionalization

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to compare the processes of policy-making for women in
the welfare state of the Nordic countries with some experiences developed by left-wing parties in Latin America, mainly from the so-called pink wave, with the progressive governments in the region. To do so, we will first make a brief presentation on the typologies of analysis on gender equality in the discussion of public policies and feminism. Then we will present the construction of social welfare schemes in the countries of the North, focusing on how these policies are developed in the Nordic countries. Finally, we will work on the South American case. As we shall see, both the European and the South American case reinforce the importance of the mobilization of civil society and its interaction with the State to implement actions that reverberate in public policies for women. However, we note that the political agendas do not coincide and, while in the Nordic countries the social democratic system allowed the construction of gender egalitarian regimes, the Latin American pink wave stimulated the creation of institutional mechanisms for women that sought to promote the institutionalization of policies focused on women’s rights.