Feminism at the crossroads of neoliberalism and neoconservatism: Restructuring women’s labor in the context of family leave reform in Finland

This paper analyzes the convergences of neoliberalism and neoconservatism in the context of a Nordic welfare state reform and especially the sexual politics it involves. Using the ongoing family leave reform in Finland as an illustrative example, the paper shows that neoliberalism and neoconservatism find common ground in welfare state reform in which the dismantling of the public provision is coupled with extended private sphere norms. The paper argues that neoliberalism and neoconservatism constitute sexual politics in which women’s labor is intensified and exploited in the public and private spheres. Rather than excluded, women are located as subjects that are critical to capitalist growth, competitive economies, national wealth, and balanced state budgets as providers of productive and reproductive labor. Feminism and gender-equality policy contribute to the constitution of sexual politics by associating both forms of work with freedom and emancipation.