The neoliberal dream of RUT : An analysis of constructions of equality within the Swedish parliamentary debate

Abstract: The buying of domestic services in Sweden has become an increasingly privatized practice, something that correlates with the global feminization and racialisation of domestic labour. Although RUT deductions within the domestic sector historically have been a criticised phenomenon, it is today representing a politically normalised labour market measure. In using a WPR-method, social constructions of equality in parliamentary debates are examined with the theoretical perspectives of post-colonial feminism. The result indicate that the parliamentary social constructions of equality are connected to a neoliberal narrative where women’s increased time in the labour market equals female emancipation.