Keywords

1.1 Introduction

Sweden was the first country in the world to launch an explicitly feminist foreign policy in 2014. Since then, several other countries have followed suit, adopting similar feminist framings of their foreign policies. This emerging trend of feminist identification underscores the dynamics of an increasingly networked world and the accelerated diffusion of ideas and strategies in global politics. Sweden’s aim was to assert its presence and position in global politics and to “become the strongest global voice for gender equality” (Government Offices of Sweden, 2018). This required both visibility and global attention that social media platforms offered in terms of scale and reach. The overarching objective of this book is to conduct a critical examination of this intricate relationship between Sweden’s feminist foreign policy and its adept utilisation of digital diplomacy. A key argument in this book is that Sweden’s distinctive feminist foreign policy was both reinforced and strengthened by its advanced practices of digital diplomacy. Therefore, the primary research question guiding this study is how the feminist branding of Swedish foreign policy intersects with ongoing processes of digital transformation in diplomatic practices.

At the same time, it is important to acknowledge that Sweden’s feminist branding also sparked contestation and resistance amongst global audiences. In this book, we explore the dynamics constituting what we define as the ‘politics of digital diplomacy’. Rather than treating digital diplomacy as a communicative and apolitical practice, we conceptualise it as a profoundly political activity (cf. Bjola & Holmes, 2015; Manor, 2019). Informed by this position, we seek to unpack the political dynamics and fluctuation between antagonism and agonism in global politics (Mouffe, 2013). In this chapter, we advance some key concepts to examine Sweden’s political positionings in foreign policy and diplomatic practice, namely ‘leadership’, ‘branding’ and ‘visuality’. These concepts enable us to analyse how and to what extent feminism and gender equality have become major fault lines and sites of contestation on digital media platforms in global politics (Aggestam & True, 2021). Specifically, we seek to demonstrate how digital diplomacy is constituted within the realm of politics, often through conflictual relations and patterns of engagement. One argument advanced here is that the Swedish government seized the opportunity to engage in state advocacy by adopting a feminist foreign policy.

Sweden’s extensive use of digital communication on social media platforms facilitated the dissemination of the core objectives and principles inherent in  its feminist foreign policy to a worldwide audience. Moreover, we contend that the influence of such state advocacy cannot solely be measured through online metrics such as likes, shares or duration of engagement. Instead, it needs to be analysed as an interaction between foreign policy and positionings in a digital and global information environment.

To date, the most established form of digital diplomacy involves the use of social media platforms, such as X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram, all of which are employed to promote key foreign policy goals globally (Adler-Nissen et al., 2021; Bjola & Holmes, 2015). States and international organisations have embraced digital diplomacy because it offers opportunities to both amplify diplomatic communication and advance nation branding. Thus, there is a pronounced assumption amongst states and their leaders that digital diplomacy has the potential to democratise elite-oriented foreign policy institutions, making them more accessible to both domestic and international audiences (Manor & Crilley, 2019). Thus, social media enables governments to engage with diverse and global audiences directly without having to rely on traditional news media alone (Cull, 2019). In a world where forging and maintaining international relationships are no longer subject to the state’s monopoly, digital outreach and influence have gained significant importance and power in global affairs (Cornago, 2013; van Ham, 2010). As a result, digital diplomacy represents a disruption of previously established roles and relationships between elites and the public in global politics. Thus, digital diplomacy is here understood as a relational practice that relies on dialogue, which can be both consensual and, at times, confrontational and antagonistic (to be discussed further in Chap. 2).

The launch and success of new foreign policy initiatives increasingly depend on navigating evolving digital media landscapes (Jackson, 2019; Postema & Melissen, 2021). In the following chapters, we examine Sweden’s employment of digital diplomacy as an integral part of its foreign policy practice, pointing to the country’s pioneering efforts in this distinct field. Indeed, to gain global recognition for their foreign policy positions, states must manage their strategic narratives and harness their ‘communication power’ (Miskimmon et al., 2014, 2018). Notably, assertive foreign policy agendas, such as those of China and Russia, have been significantly bolstered by their use of digital diplomacy (Huang, 2022; Tsvetkova, 2020). Social media platforms also serve as an arena for resistance, contestation and articulation of state identities. Therefore, the growing convergence of digital diplomacy and foreign policy is a vital aspect of the wider digital transformation of global politics.

1.2 Feminist Foreign Policy and Digital Change

While the feminist rebranding of Sweden’s foreign policy might have seemed a bold and innovative step to many observers, it also reflected a longstanding tradition of state feminism (Aggestam et al., 2021; Bergman Rosamond, 2020). This reorientation served to make pro-gender norms more visible in inter-state relations and within international institutions not least in the United Nations (UN). This transformation was made feasible by the shifts in the global and domestic digital landscape. Specifically, social media platforms, such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram provided favourable conditions for showcasing and aligning Sweden’s foreign policy with contemporary global discourses and audiences (see also Adesina, 2017; Jackson, 2019). The role played by digital platforms was the result of both external and internal factors. In the external environment, a fourth wave of feminism, dating back to 2012, driven by the early anticipation of a digital revolution on social media (Jouët, 2018; Pruchniewska, 2016), had produced a networked audience for global struggles of feminism. At the time, digital expressions of feminist activism, amplified by the #Metoo movement in 2017, became enmeshed in global efforts to promote gender equality (Khoja-Moolji, 2015). Meanwhile, antagonist social movements, rooted in anti-gender norms, traditional family values and notions of hegemonic masculinity, also have engaged in digital activism, making social media platforms contentious and polarised spheres of political exchange (Creedon, 2018; Forchtner & Kølvraa, 2017).

The Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs (MFA) embraced digital diplomacy as early as 2006 under the helm of then Foreign Minister Carl Bildt who advocated for an extensive digitalisation of Sweden’s foreign policy (Pamment, 2011). During that period, the goal was for Sweden to excel in ‘digital sophistication’ aligned with its self-narrative and nation brand as a technologically advanced state (Christensen, 2013; Pamment, 2011). While the ‘progressive Sweden’ brand was emphasised at the time, feminism was absent in the country’s digital footprint. However, the infrastructure and knowledge of how to conduct effective digital state advocacy were in place when the new self-proclaimed feminist government came to power in 2014.

Sweden’s decision to launch a feminist foreign policy in 2014 mirrored a broader shift towards pro-gender norms as well as gender justice and equality in global politics, set in motion by the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on the Women, Peace, Security (WPS) agenda in 2000. In many ways, Sweden’s adoption of feminist foreign policy represented the former Social Democratic government’s ambition to become a global leader and feminist agenda-setter, not least within the UN during its tenure as a non-permanent member of the Security Council in 2017–2019 (Olsson et al., 2021). Moreover, for Sweden, a relatively small state, this provided a strategic opportunity to assert normative leadership and deploy feminist-oriented “soft power” within global politics.

This book is firmly located within the rapidly expanding scholarship on feminist foreign policy. Feminist International Relations (IR) scholars have explored the ethical underpinning of feminist foreign policy (Aggestam et al., 2019; Robinson, 2021), its digital diplomatic projections (Aggestam et al., 2021, 2023; Bergman Rosamond & Hedling, 2022), its narration (Zhukova, 2023; Zhukova et al., 2022), the politicisation of the gender-security nexus and its close connection with the WPS agenda (Aggestam & Bergman Rosamond, 2018; Thomson, 2020), its neoliberal foundations and the role of feminist foreign policy in the reproduction of essentialist and colonial discourses and practices (Achilleos-Sarll et al., 2023; Nylund et al., 2022). Of particular significance here is the observation that Sweden’s embrace of feminist foreign policy offered an opportunity to advance  progressive politics beyond the conventional consensus-oriented approach of gender mainstreaming toward a more controversial and contentious political project (Aggestam & Bergman-Rosamond, 2016, p. 323). Informed by this position, this book analyses the conflictual political dynamics of Sweden’s feminist foreign policy in the context of digital communication. The book is based on research that specifically analyses Sweden’s use of digital diplomacy as a central strategy to disseminate information about global gender justice and as a strategy for mobilising support for the country’s narrative and articulation of feminist foreign policy. Noteworthy here is Jezierska’s intervention which highlights how the articulation of Sweden’s feminist foreign policy was frequently muted or even silenced by Swedish embassies in their practices of digital diplomacy as a way to conform to local contexts less inclined to support feminist transformative processes (Jezierska, 2022). This demonstrates the limits of Sweden’s feminist foreign policy when it was faced with confrontational criticism.

Despite prolific scholarship on feminist foreign policy, few, if any studies have examined the interplay between the launch of feminist foreign policy and the practice of digital diplomacy. Hence, this book contributes to new theoretical and empirical knowledge by focusing on specific processes of articulation, resonance and contestation. First, articulation underscores the vital role of foreign policy leadership as a driver of foreign policy change. Political leaders are central to the articulation of a nation’s external identity and foreign policy objectives. Combined with digital diplomacy the nation brand can be communicated through visual and textual language. Hence, both the rebranding of the state and the communication of its prioritised foreign policy goals require global leadership and diplomatic skills. Second, resonance refers to how Sweden’s feminist foreign policy was diffused globally and communicated to global audiences, foreign policy elites and state actors worldwide. Third, contestation brings forth multiple political dynamics and ramifications whereby Sweden’s feminist foreign policy elicited both positive amplifications and negative backlash across various digital platforms. This also includes contestation through affective resonance, that is, how online audiences shape and contribute to a particular political agenda by creating emotional responses (Fleig & von Scheve, 2020; Mühlhoff, 2015). In addition to state interactions, contestation occurs within attempts to challenge the status quo of global visibility structures by making marginalised actors more visible and heard on the Internet.

1.3 Digital Diplomacy in a Globalised World

Digitalisation has introduced tools and strategies that make diplomacy more effective in global politics (Bjola, 2016). The reliance on digital tools became particularly evident during the Covid-19 pandemic when diplomatic processes were largely maintained despite physical restrictions hindering face-to-face diplomacy (Eggeling & Versloot, 2022; Maurer & Wright, 2020; Naylor, 2020). However, digitalisation has also introduced new challenges and forms of contention and conflictual dialogue, which tend to blur the line between diplomacy as a peaceful activity, and as a new form of aggression (Bjola & Pamment, 2019; Golovchenko et al., 2018). In the broadest sense, digital diplomacy refers to how digitalisation and information and communication technology (ICT) intersect (Bjola & Holmes, 2015). This definition includes much more than what is publicly observable on social media and the research field has therefore gradually moved from early attention to “twiplomacy” (diplomacy on Twitter) to a state of “hybrid diplomacy” (broader digital adaptations) (Bjola & Manor, 2022). Today, digital tools make information more accessible and help to organise diplomatic processes, such as multilateral negotiations and peace mediation (Aggestam & Hedling, 2023). It also has contributed to the stability and continuity of diplomacy by offering opportunities to keep communication channels for dialogues constantly open. These processes are deeply political, and by exploring them we can generate insights into how gendered hierarchies in diplomacy and foreign policy are contested and reproduced, and how global audiences engage and react to diplomatic messages. These processes often reward loud voices and reproduce offline hierarchies and geopolitical divides in online arenas (Bramsen & Hagemann, 2021; Duncombe, 2019; Manor & Pamment, 2019; Wright & Guerrina, 2020).

The advancements in information and communication technology (ICTs) are organic facilitators of change in speed, reach and continuity, producing both online agency and content, processes that are deeply complex to study. The adaptations to digital society, across areas of diplomacy, affect the constitutive norms and practices of diplomacy in ways that transgress the online-offline divide (Hedling & Bremberg, 2021). As a result, we can no longer separate the digitalisation of diplomacy as a process and a set of practices. Hence, to understand this entanglement we need to interrogate the politics of digital diplomacy and recognise its built-in political dynamics, not least in the inherently political and sometimes conflictual area of feminist foreign policy.

1.4 Aims and Outline of the Book

The overarching aims of this book are threefold:

  1. 1.

    To advance new knowledge of why, how and with what consequences power-political dynamics are produced and maintained in the intersection of feminist foreign policy and digital diplomacy.

  2. 2.

    To generate a novel theoretical contribution to the politics of feminist foreign policy and digital diplomacy by advancing an innovative theoretical framework based on the key concepts of ‘articulation’, ‘resonance’ and ‘contestation’. This framework captures the inherently political dynamics of feminist foreign policy and digital diplomacy.

  3. 3.

    To advance new empirical knowledge regarding feminist foreign policy and digital diplomacy. As such, the book sheds new insights into the constitutive relationship between leadership, branding and visuality within the politics of feminist foreign policy and digital diplomacy.

The book contains six chapters, including the present introduction. Chapter 2 lays out the theoretical framework and approach to the study of the politics of foreign policy and digital diplomacy. Our reasoning employs an understanding of the political as a relational and dialogical site prone to fluctuations between agonism and antagonism (Mouffe, 2013). We also stay attentive to processes of politicisation, that is, processes by which social, political or cultural issues are actively being moved into the political realm, often causing debates but also at times policy change. More specifically, we are interested in the politicisation of digital diplomacy and foreign policy (Hay, 2007; Neal, 2019), which highlights the fluctuation between antagonism and agonism in digital diplomacy and Sweden’s feminist foreign policy. In particular, we focus on three processes of politicisation: articulation, resonance and contestation. These processes capture the political dynamics of leadership, branding and visuality in Sweden’s feminist foreign policy.

Chapters 3, 4, and 5 provide empirical in-depth analyses of (a) leadership, (b) branding and (c) visuality. Chapter 3 examines the decisive role played by political leaders in the articulation, resonance and contestation of feminist foreign policy, and how social media impact these processes. Former Swedish foreign minister Margot Wallström was central to Sweden’s adoption of a feminist foreign policy. In many ways, she acted as a ‘norm entrepreneur’ who was able to navigate and harness the political and gendered dynamics of global affairs and project them to global audiences online. Notably, the chapter unpacks how she initially articulated Sweden’s feminist foreign policy as an accessible and strategically framed agenda. Moreover, the chapter explores how Sweden’s feminist foreign policy generated worldwide resonance, facilitated by the perfect timing and framing of its launch and trajectory. Finally, the chapter discusses the #shedecides digital campaign to illustrate the important role of leadership in navigating gendered discursive political contestations on social media. This digital campaign highlights the global reactions to the reinstatement of the US global gag rule in 2017, prohibiting state funding from being granted to development projects that actively seek to facilitate women’s abortions worldwide.

Chapter 4 examines how Sweden’s feminist foreign policy was constructed and managed as a nation brand during its eight years of existence. This nation brand was built on Sweden’s longstanding state feminist tradition, at home and abroad, as well as its gradual move to a more sophisticated form of digital diplomacy. Hence, Sweden’s feminist foreign policy was to a great extent an exercise in feminist-informed branding, paired with a strong awareness that the digital communication of feminist values required both pragmatism and policy adaptation. The chapter analyses how strategies of hashtag feminism resonated among global audiences not least within digital advocacy networks to draw attention to and mobilise support for the distinct feminist values that informed Sweden’s feminist foreign policy. Finally, the chapter discusses how feminist foreign policy was contested by a range of actors globally, focusing on an official state visit by Sweden to Iran in 2017.

Chapter 5 explores how new opportunities to employ visual language, symbolic representation and global visibilities contributed to the construction, diffusion and communication of Sweden’s feminist foreign policy to multiple global audiences. The launch and trajectory of Sweden’s feminist foreign policy entailed managing its visual representation. The reach and resonance of Sweden’s feminist foreign policy relied on usages of visual representations and visibility structures that were politically mobilised by the former Social Democratic government and the MFA. In the chapter, we examine the employment of such visual language in articulating feminist foreign policy, centring the analysis on a travelling photo exhibition titled ‘Swedish Dads’. The exhibition quickly became associated with Sweden’s feminist foreign policy, triggering debates and discussions in a range of national contexts. Finally, we analyse Sweden’s WikiGap initiative, which aimed to increase the number of Wikipedia entries specifically referring to women and their stories throughout history. The initiative is an important illustration of how feminist foreign policy managed to contest embedded practices in the gendered politics of online visibility.

The final chapter concludes by summarising the main findings of the book and by reflecting on new avenues for the study of the politics of feminist foreign policy and digital diplomacy.