“It is very gratifying that Umeå is recognized as a role model”

Maria Carbin is a professor at the Umeå Centre for Gender Studies, Umeå University. She shows how research has been translated into concrete measures that have made Umeå known as an equal and safe city.

Maria Carbin is a professor and researcher at UCGS, Umeå University, and has long studied feminist politics and movements. The research at UCGS has played an important role in shaping the city’s profile and contributes to analyzing and highlighting gender equality efforts at different levels.

– It is very gratifying that Umeå is internationally recognized as a feminist role model, she says.

Umeå University contributes to a safe city

International media often highlight Umeå’s gender-aware urban planning, with examples such as safety tunnels, bus stops, “Mrs. Walker” pedestrian signs, and artworks. Research at UCGS shows that such concrete measures are important, but that real safety requires more than just physical changes like better lighting or cutting back bushes.

– At the same time, one must remember that this image of Umeå as an equal city is also something Umeå municipality has promoted as part of a marketing strategy. Umeå faces the same problems as anywhere else in the world, with violence against women and unequal conditions in general. To create sustainable safety, greater long-term political investments are needed, she says.

ImagePer Melander

Carbin emphasizes that the university’s research and the municipality’s initiatives together contribute to Umeå’s reputation as both a safe and feminist city. But she also stresses that Umeå has not achieved gender equality nor is it truly a feminist city today. She believes that it is the interaction between the city’s different actors—citizens, the university, and the municipality, that creates a sustainable foundation for equality and safety. The role of sports has also been important in shaping Umeå’s image as an equal and feminist city, with early focus on women’s football being recognized.

– Perhaps it is the case that around the world people want to find role models and hope that, despite the conservative times we live in, there are still places where feminism and gender equality are seen as something desirable, says Carbin.

Feminist and intersectional perspectives on power and politics
Feminist and intersectional theories about power and politics can also help examine how safety and equality are implemented in urban planning, even though Carbin’s own research mainly focuses on national feminist politics. She points to examples from UCGS researchers who have applied such theories to more concrete urban issues.

Jennie Brandén, a former PhD student at the Graduate School of Gender Studies, used these theories to problematize municipal safety walks. She asked questions like: who is supposed to be made safe, and how? The results showed a risk that some citizens are singled out as threats to safety, while others appear as those who must be protected. Carbin stresses the importance of constantly considering different dimensions in these contexts.

– It is crucial to always think about class and race/ethnicity, not just gender, she says.

According to Carbin, what is often forgotten in international reports are the strong feminist movements that have long existed in the city.

It shows that demands have come from the grassroots, and students have been a natural part of this

She describes a tradition of DIY culture, a subculture rooted in the music scene, feminist associations, and opportunities for association life through popular education. Over the years, activists have put pressure on politicians through actions and occupations.

– It shows that demands have come from below, and students have always been an obvious part of it.

International interest in gender studies

The international attention around Umeå sometimes even shows up in the researchers’ everyday lives. Maria Carbin recounts that she was recently contacted by French public service media, who wanted to interview her about UCGS’s work. The reporting team plans to highlight both the municipality’s equality efforts and issues that, from a French perspective, seem unusual—such as parental leave for fathers. In that context, gender research was also emphasized.

Professor Maria Carbin vid Umeå centrum för genusstudier (UCGS).

Image Per Melander

– They also take the opportunity to ask about education and research at UCGS, which is really fun.

Ahead of the French TV feature, Carbin hopes one aspect in particular will come through: the interplay between the city’s various actors.

– What is special about Umeå is how the feminist movements, the university, and the municipality have always been so closely interwoven.

A growing research arena

The Umeå Centre for Gender Studies has over the years received several major recognitions. Among other things, UCGS has been named a Centre of Gender Excellence by the Swedish Research Council. Researchers have also been awarded the Görel Bohlin Prize and Nordea’s Scientific Prize. For Maria Carbin, however, it is just as important to highlight the daily work carried out at the centre.

– I think it’s fantastic that our centre, which some may have thought of as a temporary initiative when it started, is still very active.

She believes it is easy to get stuck on medals and awards, but that the core of the work is always the people behind it. It is the everyday commitment of teachers and researchers that keeps the centre alive and relevant, both in teaching and in research. At the same time, Carbin says that the critical perspective permeates all the work, and that this is one of the reasons why students come here from all over the world.

– Beyond all the awards and funding, teachers and researchers are engaged in students’ learning and in their own research. We are driven by the desire to problematize and think critically about contemporary issues, and to teach that to all our wonderful students.

Early initiatives laid the foundation

As early as the 1970s, Umeå began working with gender issues, and in 1997 Sweden’s first professorship in gender studies was established at Umeå University. Maria Carbin believes it was crucial that the university was early in embracing what was then called women’s studies. Umeå University was open to interdisciplinary approaches, new subjects, and new questions.

The initiative spread knowledge into new academic fields at the university and had a major impact also for those who later worked outside academia

As early as 1982, the first major research conference in women’s studies, “The Women’s University,” was organized, and in the late 1980s, the Women’s Studies Forum was inaugurated at the university.

– I believe that the courses offered at the Women’s Studies Forum in the 1990s were hugely important for many professionals who could bring new knowledge into their work.

Since then, Umeå University has remained at the forefront with the Graduate School of Gender Studies, launched in 2001 and still active at UCGS. The Graduate School is an interdisciplinary doctoral program where PhD students defend their theses in different subjects but follow courses and supervision with a gender perspective. Carbin says that the initiative has spread knowledge to new academic areas at the university and has had a major impact also for those who pursued careers outside academia.

– It is really quite incredible that we are now at 90 doctoral dissertations, so in just over a year we believe we’ll be celebrating 100, she concludes.