Gudrun Schyman, co-founder of the first feminist party in Europe, believes that politicians need to talk more about love.
“I think that love is the strongest force that we have,” Schyman said in a talk at NYU. “When you don’t talk about love, fear is growing. And that is what is happening right now.”
Originally a leader of the Swedish Left Party, Schyman stepped down in 2003 to found the Feminist Initiative (FI), a radical feminist party which advocates for the rights of women as well as environmental protection, open borders in the EU, and the dismantling of a common military alliance. In 2014, FI won 5.49 percent of the Swedish vote, granting the party one seat in the European Parliament.
However, the rise of nationalism across Europe has presented serious challenges to parties like the FI. Sweden’s most recent elections in September showed increased support for the Sweden Democrats, a conservative and anti-immigrant party, while the long-reigning Social Democrats received their worst outcome in over 100 years.
Schyman’s work in Sweden has inspired the development of feminist groups in Norway, Finland, Denmark, Spain, Poland and other EU countries. The current political climate has negatively affected these groups as well. Some of them, Schyman said, have been accused of being enemy agents and had their offices raided by the state.
Still, Schyman hopes that these associations can come together to form a feminist political group in the European Parliament. This would require 25 elected representatives from at least seven EU member states.
Schyman also spoke about the effects of the #MeToo movement, which took hold in Sweden about a year ago with a series of sexual abuse and harassment allegations within the legal and entertainment industries, as well as the Swedish Academy. The movement shocked many people, as Sweden has long been considered a model for gender equality, ranking in fifth place on the 2017 World Global Gender Gap Index.
“I was not surprised,” said Schyman, “because women have always told their stories. The difference was that people were listening.”
Schyman said that the #MeToo movement allowed women not only to speak about their experiences for the first time, but to hear from other women that they were not alone.
“I think this movement has done more to women’s rights than any political reform has done,” said Schyman. She said these women were able to “go from being a victim to being an activist.”
For Schyman, it is important to connect feminism with other issues, such as minority rights, gender, and refugee concerns. She believes that these groups need to work together to combat nationalist forces, who often have more money and are better organized.
She is also working to expand her voter base. Schyman says that she has seen an increase overtime in the number of men supporting FI. Most are young, she said, but some are retirees whose daughters convinced them to join the movement.
However, the most pressing question for her is not how to involve more men, but how to attract more women.
Schyman’s appearance at NYU coincided with the New York premiere of The Feminist, a 2018 documentary which follows Schyman through her years of campaigning for the party. She made appearances at private homes, parties, business meetings, and wherever she was requested, sometimes giving four or five talks in one day.
The documentary also touched on more personal issues, such as Schyman’s public battle with alcoholism, her experiences with domestic violence and the way that her constant campaigning strained her relationship with her daughter, Anna Westman.
Anna, who was present at the NYU talk, said that as a child, her mother’s absence was very difficult. “But then when I see her job and what she’s doing…it gives me a lot of strength.”
Film producer Helene Granqvist said that she hoped the film would inspire other young women to continue Schyman’s work. Schyman advised students to speak to the people in their lives who were willing to keep an open mind.
“Then you are two, then three, then you are 20,” she said. “Then you are a political party.”
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