Luis Lineo - Masculinity, the War in Ukraine, and Refugees: Swedish Responses

Luis Lineo was born in Ukraine to Chilean parents, and was raised there by a single mother. He moved to Sweden at the age of 12 as a refugee. As an adult, he became involved in work on masculinity, violence, and gender equality. We speak to him about the impact of watching on as his country of birth is invaded, and why masculinity and gender matter in the horrifying war on Ukraine. We also explore issues of inequality, integration, and violence in contemporary Sweden, and why Swedish society is more complicated than the beacon of gender equality it is often perceived to be.

Luis is actively involved in Sweden’s Feminist Initiative Party and works at the secretariat for MenEngage Europe (MenEngage is a global network of civil society organisations working with men and boys for gender equality). For over 15 years he has been a journalist and sexuality educator, and helps to run a media house called Fanzingo for young people in a low-income area south of Stockholm. He is an active member of MÄN, a leading organisation in Sweden and Europe working on preventing men’s violence against women and a range of other masculinity issues. He is also a fan of rugby, and used to play for the Swedish national men’s rugby team!

We cover the following topics in the episode:

• The impact of the war on Luis and his friends and family
• Luis’s life growing up in Ukraine – and what led him to move to Sweden
• Luis’s experience of hosting a Ukrainian refugee family since the war began
• Why a masculinities perspective is so relevant to the war in Ukraine
• Rapid changes in Swedish foreign policy – including potentially joining Nato
• Luis’s experience of being involved in the Feminist Initiative Party
• Gender equality, gender norms and backlash in Sweden, e.g. around parental leave
• Riots against the burning of the Quran in Sweden – and the influence of xenophobia and the far-right
• How Luis first got involved in gender equality work
• Being a rugby player, and masculine cultures in rugby

For more information...

• Follow Luis on Twitter - https://twitter.com/lucholineo
• Feminist Initiative Party - https://feministisktinitiativ.se/sprak/english/election-platform/
• MenEngage Alliance - https://menengage.org
• Media House Fanzingo - https://fanzingo.se/in-english/
• MÄN - https://mfj.se/en

Explainers:

• Sweden has not yet signed or ratified the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) - https://www.icanw.org/sweden
• Malmö: Two women killed after violent attack at Swedish school (BBC) - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60830059
• Swedish parental leave policy (Swedish Institute) - https://sweden.se/life/society/work-life-balance
• Women's Equality Party (UK) - https://womensequality.org.uk
• Sweden riots over Quran burning: What is happening? (Al Jazeera) -https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/4/19/what-do-we-know-about-the-sweden-riots
• Locker Room Talk (Sweden): https://lockerroomtalk.se
• Beyond Equality (UK): https://beyondequality.org
• UK Rwanda asylum plan: Who does it target and is it going to happen? (The Guardian) - https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/apr/14/rwanda-asylum-plan-who-does-it-target-and-is-it-going-to-happen

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