Climate change effects on human health in a gender perspective: some trends in Arctic research

Background: Climate change and environmental pollution have become pressing concerns for the peoples in the Arctic region. Some researchers link climate change, transformations of living conditions and human health. A number of studies have also provided data on differentiating effects of climate change on women's and men's well-being and health. Objective: To show how the issues of climate and environment change, human health and gender are addressed in current research in the Arctic. The main purpose of this article is not to give a full review but to draw attention to the gaps in knowledge and challenges in the Arctic research trends on climate change, human health and gender. Methods: A broad literature search was undertaken using a variety of sources from natural, medical, social science and humanities. The focus was on the keywords. Results: Despite the evidence provided by many researchers on differentiating effects of climate change on well-being and health of women and men, gender perspective remains of marginal interest in climate change, environmental and health studies. At the same time, social sciences and humanities, and gender studies in particular, show little interest towards climate change impacts on human health in the Arctic. As a result, we still observe the division of labour between disciplines, the disciplinary-bound pictures of human development in the Arctic and terminology confusion. Conclusion: Efforts to bring in a gender perspective in the Arctic research will be successful only when different disciplines would work together. Multidisciplinary research is a way to challenge academic/disciplinary homogeneity and their boundaries, to take advantage of the diversity of approaches and methods in production of new integrated knowledge. Cooperation and dialogue across disciplines will help to develop adequate indicators for monitoring human health and elaborating efficient policies and strategies to the benefit of both women and men in the Arctic

Whose gender equality counts? : the case of Russian migrant couples in Norway

The article addresses the problem of “normalizing” migrants within a nation state by means of a gender system. The example of Russian immigrants in Norway shows how crossing a physical border moves people across different gender systems. In this transition migrants (re-)negotiate their gender identities and understandings of gender equality. At the same time, trying to integrate into the host society, they problematize the normalizing power of gender systems functioning in a particular society. The article is arranged in three parts starting with an overview of Russian migrants in Norway as a group. The second part describes different gender systems, which Russian immigrant couples cross. The third part shows how Soviet, Post-Soviet and Norwegian gender systems affect the experiences and expectations of Russian migrants in Norway and how gender intersects with nationality and a nation-state gender system. In conclusion, the potential for changing a nation-state gender system and integrating diversity is discussed

Technical change and the untroubling of gendered ageing in healthcare work

Whilst recent years have seen increasing pressure to extend the participation of older people in the labour market, it is clear that there remain significant challenges in achieving this and that these take specifically gendered forms. This paper explores if and how these might be shaped in intra-action with the rapid pace of technological change linked to the pervasive spread of digital technologies in the workplace. We take our theoretical lead from critical gerontology, feminist accounts of inter-sectionality and Science & Technology Studies, which together insist on an anti-essentialist and performative account of gendered ageing that focuses on everyday practices and the conditions that shape these in particular spaces, places and times. Our empirical focus is on healthcare work, where we find that gendered ageing appears in more or less troubled relations to the increasingly technological practices of medicine and nursing. We conclude with a discussion exploring the implications of our theoretical perspective and empirical findings

Climate change in the Arctic:the need for a broader gender perspective in data collection

Abstract Climate change in the Arctic affects both environmental, animal, and human health, as well as human wellbeing and societal development. Women and men, and girls and boys are affected differently. Sex-disaggregated data collection is increasingly carried out as a routine in human health research and in healthcare analysis. This study involved a literature review and used a case study design to analyze gender differences in the roles and responsibilities of men and women residing in the Arctic. The theoretical background for gender-analysis is here described together with examples from the Russian Arctic and a literature search. We conclude that a broader gender-analysis of sex-disaggregated data followed by actions is a question of human rights and also of economic benefits for societies at large and of the quality of services as in the health care