Anita Gradin Interview: Conversations with History; Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley

Photo by Jane Scherr

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Politics

What sort of stories did you cover as a journalist?

Well, let me see. I started with general things because you need that background. But then I was responsible for, you could say, social engagements and women affairs. When I married, I wanted very much to continue.

To continue in journalism?

To continue in journalism. But there were a lot of obstacles -- you know, [a lack of] day care centers. I had a daughter who was born in 1955. How could you combine work with family? And, also, the tax system is like it is in the United States today. I mean, co-taxation. So we were punished for being married because you had lower taxes as singles. When you stayed at home you had the privileges in this tax system.

This very much relates to the kinds of concerns that you brought to politics.

True. The question of the right to work for women. We should have the same rights as men to be on the labor market. And then the issues surrounding family and work. And also, what should be the role of men in the family?

That men should equally share the responsibilities at home?

Yes.

What led you into politics, then?

It was all this. It was, I think, the Finnish children who provoked my interest in international questions. Also, the things that happened to me. I was mad because society hindered me [as a woman] or there was not the possibility of service and family, or you were punished in taxation. So that was why I joined the women's movement.

And this would have been about what year?

It was in '55, after I married and sort of found out that men and women were not equal.

In those days, was the European women's movement ahead of the United States or were they about equal in their level of consciousness?

In the sixties, you had research on the role of women and you got gender discussion. So I think women's issues were being raised on both sides of the Atlantic. I mean, we had The Feminine Mystique and so on, that was also coming.

You said to me earlier that as a journalist you covered the United States and the "flower power" revolution here.

Yes.

You visited the San Francisco area?

Yes, I visited the San Francisco area. I was looking into why this protest movement, why "flower power"? And it was very much, also, you know, boys and girls, women. And then, of course, it was the Vietnam War. And I saw the burning of the draft cards here. I listened to Joan Baez concerts.

How did this affect you?

More engagement against the Vietnam War.

What does it take to be in politics?

It's a tradition very much in Swedish politics, or in the Nordic or Scandinavian, that you join a youth/student movement. You moved on to the women' s movement,then to the party, and very often, you were tested on the local level. So you might be nominated to a local committee. I was working with some educational questions. I also came into the city council of Stockholm in 1966. I protested at that time: why should all women be in the "soft" places, like social welfare, and why we were not in the industrial committees or transportation or whatever?

In one of the speeches I read in preparation for our interview, you refer to your stubbornness.

Yes.

And, of course, you would have to be stubborn and persevere if you're bringing up new issues in the way you were. Tell us a little about that. Where did you get that?

I don't know. Maybe it's my grandmother, again. Because her way of talking to both me and my sister, and telling us how important it was for girls to be active, and also to have a point of view on questions, and if you have a standpoint, you should tell what it is. Of course, my parents were in the labor movement, and living in a class society, you were also protesting why, and that had an effect.

So a kind of questioning quality, a questioning stance to go with that stubbornness.

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