Ledarskap och feminism : En studie om organisering och ledarskap i en feministisk organisation

Sammanfattning: The aim of this study was to acquire knowledge about leadership and how an organization that describes to be feminist is organized. This was done by studying how everyday tasks and institutionalised practices interact in the construction of the ”feminist” organization and its leadership. This study is a qualitative case-study based on an exploratory and investigative approach. Data was collected through observation, interviews and document study. The organization used in this study is a political youth organization with a feministic and socialistic agenda. This study is based on social constructionistic ontology and combined structural- and process perspectives on leadership and organization. The analysis was preformed using a theoretical framework comprising new institutional organization theory and a ”doing gender”-perspective.Results show that the studied organization can be described as ”feministic.” The analysis shows that there is a gap between the formal organizational structure and the informal organization. The feministic idea within the organization is mainly present at a discursive level where gender is a central aspect. The leadership within the organization is described by its members as a formal and collective leadership based on an equal leadership ideal. But analysis shows that the described leadership is contradictive. The leadership appears to be a male, gender-based construction at a symbolic level while girls in leading positions are seen as divergent as they are gendered in their leadership. The feministic idea's impact on leadership mainly consists of strengthening, supporting and developing girls as authorities within the organization. Furthermore, this study showed no evidence of a specific ”feminist leadership,” suggesting that a feminist organization does not have to bring a feminist leadership.