In our presentation we aim to show how restructuring of the state and public governance has changed the conditions for gender equality and equality policy in Finland, one of the most gender equal countries in the world. We explore changes in the Finnish gender equality policy throughout the 2000s by analyzing government action plans for gender equality. We analyze the action plans as a technique of governance, which reflect the wider changes of the state and public governance. We aim to show that the reasons for the current backlash of gender equality policy in Finland lie deeper than in austerity politics and the rise of conservatism. The current dismissal of gender equality is not a passing phenomenon reducible to the ideologies of the governing parties, but a consequence of the strategic policy making that is characteristic of neoliberal NPM reforms. We claim that in Finland, at present, there is an intensification of changes taking place that the welfare state has been going through since the 1980s. The welfare state is becoming a ‘strategic state’: a state where the economy sets the frameworks and evidence seemingly replaces values and ideologies in policymaking. In addition to facilitating the adoption of austerity measures the strategic governance reform has de-democratized policy making and helped to push gender equality off the political agenda.
