# Kajsa Ekis Ekman

Kajsa Ekis Ekman (born in 1980) is a Swedish author, journalist, lectuer and debater, also published in English, French and Spanish. Her works have sparked debate in subjects regarding prostitution, surrogacy, transgender issues, and capitalism. She identifies as a feminist. Until 2022 she wrote for Dagens ETC [sv] Currently, she is the editor-in-chief of Parabol Press and contributes to a number of other Swedish publications. In addition to her writing, Ekman has lectured internationally on women's issues and capitalism and has been invited as a debater by TV-channels in several countries. The awards she received include the Robespierre Prize in 2010 and Lenin Award in 2020.

## Biography

Ekman grew up in Stockholm and became involved with the punk movement in her early teens. That led her to engage in political activism for animal rights and anti-fascism.
She participated in the protests at the European Council meetings in Gothenburg 2001, coined the Gothenburg Riots, and has mentioned experiencing a decline in activist movements as an aftermath. During an open house at the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter, she criticised the paper's lack of appeal to young people. Journalist Viggo Cavling, editor of the newspaper's supplement DN på stan, encouraged her to write and submit something herself. This led to a collaboration that sparked her interest in writing.
She has studied literature at university level, among other subjects. She was a literary critic at Dagens Nyheter's culture section between 2003-2018. Ekman has been very interested in the Albanian author Ismail Kadare and wrote forewords to books by him when his books were published in Swedish. After Kadare's death, she was interviewed on Albanian television about this.
Ekman has founded several networks and organizations, including the climate action group Klimax, the anti-surrogacy network Feministiskt Nej till Surrogatmödraskap and Greece support network Nätverket för Grekland. In 2010, she was a spokesperson for the group Shut It Down aimed at the fossil fueled powerplant Värtaverket using acts of civil disobedience.
In recent years, Ekman has been invited as a lecturer on How the US control The European mind and the US role in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
Ekman serves as editor-in-chief of Parabol Press. She contributes to the cultural section of Dagens Nyheter, she has written op-eds about foreign issues for the Norwegian newspaper Klassekampen, she is a literary critic at the Swedish daily Aftonbladet's cultural section, and she contributes to Dala-Demokraten. She has also contributed to Le Monde diplomatique and Truthdig.
She has previously worked as an editorial writer for left wing paper Dagens ETC and was a member of the editorial board for the magazine Brand. Ekman lectures internationally on prostitution, surrogacy, and crisis theory.
In 2020, Ekman was awarded the Swedish Lenin Award given that she is an "independent socialist and feminist with the whole world as her field of work." She has referred to herself as "generally left-wing."

## Books

* Being and Being Bought: Prostitution, Surrogacy and the Split Self (Varat och varan : prostitution, surrogatmödraskap och den delade människan. Stockholm: Leopard. 2010)
* Skulden : eurokrisen sedd från Aten. Stockholm: Leopard. 2013
* Texter 1998–2015. Perspektiv ; 1. Stockholm: ETC Förlag. 2015
* On the Meaning of Sex: Thoughts about the New Definition of Woman (Om könets existens – tankar om den nya synen på kön. Stockholm: Polaris, 2021
* Preface to translations into Swedish of novels written by Ismail Kadare
Ekman's book Skulden: Eurokrisen sedd från Aten (approximately "The Debt: Eurocrisis perceived from Athens"), from 2014, explores the economic crisis in Europe and Greek government-debt crisis from a Greek perspective. The book was published in Greek under the title κλεμμένη άνοιξη (approximately "The Stolen Spring"). It challenges the myth of the lazy Greek often cited in Sweden and the rest of EU. Skulden was reviewed in Sweden's major daily Dagens Nyheter by Andres Lokko, who stated that "Kajsa Ekis Ekman is efficient and pedagogical. Even for a reader lacking even the most basic knowledge on economics, she clarifies the chain of events from threats of bankruptcy to the EU-banks (especially the German ones) egotist and arrogant decision-making about the future of Greece." The book was translated to Greek under the title Klemmeni Anoixi by KEDROS Publications. For this book, Ekman was awarded the 2015 Swedish-Greek of the Year Prize.
Ekman's book On the Meaning of Sex: Thoughts about the New Definition of Woman, which addresses what she refers to as the new understanding of gender spurred a major controversy with both support and claims. The book Being and Being Bought, subtitled "Prostitution, Surrogacy and the Split Self" received mixed reviews, and her stance against surrogacy sparked debate. Maria Sveland described it as "one of the year's most important books" in Dagens Nyheter, and it has been translated into English, German, Spanish, French and Italian. The ensuing debate led the Left Party and Feminist Initiative to take stances against surrogacy in Sweden.

## Views
### Transgender issues

Ekman caim that the woman in the West faces a major dilemma: no contemporary political force is advocating for her interests. One side wants to abolish her rights, while the other wants to erase her name. The conservative right wants to strip her of the right to abortion, sexuality, and freedom of movement. The liberal left, on the other hand, argues that there are no women at all, wants to open women’s sports and female prisons to men, and has launched a campaign to remove the word “woman” from public documents, replacing it with terms like “uterus-bearer.” The most recent attempt to remove the word “woman” from the Swedish abortion law—fortunately stopped—is just one example.
Ekman has by some feminist been claimed for promoting gender-critical ideas.In 2020 Ekman published the book On the Meaning of Sex: Thoughts about the New Definition of Woman, where she argues that the Swedish encyclopedia Nationalencyklopedin defines gender as "...a word that is used to distinguish individuals of animals, plants and other organisms depending on what kind of gametes they have".(Ekman,page 9) However, the Swedish website Vårdguiden (a guide to Swedish public healthcare) in 2019 used a different definition of the word gender "...what determines what gender you are is not your body or what is written in your passport; it is what you yourself feel that matters"(Ekman, page 9). In addition, she writes that she is not opposed to transgender people.
In 2020 Ekman participated in the Swedish launch of anti-trans group Women's Declaration International (WDI; formerly named Women's Human Rights Campaign or WHRC). She has also participated in other WDI events, such as WDI's "Feminist Question Time." In 2022 she appeared alongside prominent anti-trans activists Posie Parker and WDI founder Heather Brunskell-Evans, in an event focused on surrogacy.
Ekman argues that the perception of gender has shifted from being biological to being experiential, and that this risks undermining the issue of women's rights. Transgender individuals are mentioned in her book Being and Being Bought (2010), but it was first in the latter part of the 2010s that Ekman picked up the conflicts she believes exist between women's rights issues and later transgender rights demands. In an article from 2018, Ekman writes that gender has been redefined from being a reproductive function to constituting an identity. In addition to addressing ethical questions related to medical treatment of minors, the article discusses existing and potential negative effects of the new definition of gender. She expressed a surprise that the shift of paradigm she saw had not been discussed.

#### Reception of gender views

Ekman's gender-critical writings have resulted in criticism for her views on transgender people. Maria Ramnehill argued in 2018 that Ekman spreads "scaremongering about trans women".
Ekman's 2018 article about the transition of gender from a reproductive function to an identity sparked a heated debate in the Swedish media. Several transgender women criticized her sharply, and Ekman was described as "provocatively unsupportive".Ebba Witt-Brattström, a very well-known veteran of the Swedish feminist movement, defended Ekman and the biological sisterhood as a feminist strategy. Ekman responded to the criticism and called for answers to her questions, and some expressed that the questions were important and should be discussed.
In 2022 Ekman complained over an article in Dagens Nyheter where she had been described as a "leading figure in the new transphobic movement" resulting in criticism from an ethics body over the fact that she was not offered the opportunity to comment on the criticism of her.
Her 2020 book On the Meaning of Sex: Thoughts about the New Definition of Woman evoked many reactions and divided opinions. Swedish feminists such as Nina Björk and Yvonne Hirdman gave the book positive reviews. Among those who distance themselves from Ekman's stance is RFSL, a Swedish national organisation working for LBGT-rights, which responded to Ekman's book by publishing a list of a hundred things they believed were wrong in Ekman's book. The book also faced sharp criticism in daily and evening press for some of its conclusions and use of sources. The book was criticized for relying on far-right "fake news sources" and depicting trans women as a threat. Morgenbladet described the book's rhetoric as "abhorrent" and said that "it is debatable whether this book deserves any discussion at all." Maria Horvei wrote that Ekman's "onesided" book argues against strawmen.
Ekman has given many lectures on things she has written about in her books and articles. On a few occasions, Ekman has been canceled from speaking engagements after her criticism of the new perception of gender received attention. For example, she was canceled by national women's shelter organisation ROKS in 2018 with the reasoning that her statements about gender are "incompatible with Roks' ideology". Mittuniversitetet's Forum for Gender Studies canceled a breakfast seminar at short notice that was partially based on Ekman's book, citing that a breakfast seminar was not the appropriate format for the topic. In a communication, the Forum for Gender Studies stated that they "[b]ased on questions and comments received in connection with the seminar, would like to emphasize that the Forum for Gender Studies is not a place for transphobia and trans-hate." Ekman responded to the communication on Instagram with the question, "So, at first, you were planning to have a place for 'transphobia and trans-hate,' but then changed your mind?"

### Högdalen swimming pool

In 2010, Ekman put up the bathtub of the Municipal commissioner for Sports, Regina Kevius, for sale on the online marketplace Blocket in protest against the commissioner's privatization of the public swimming pool in Högdalen, Stockholm. The ad was removed by Blocket because the bathtub did not belong to the advertiser. Ekman argued that by the same logic, Kevius also had no right to sell the swimming pool, as it belonged to the people. The inspiration came from activists in Gothenburg who put up local politicians' homes for sale on online realtor site Hemnet after the city started selling properties from the public housing stock. Ekman followed up by posting books that she guessed the chairman of the municipal board in Nacka was reading since he put the operation of libraries out for tender.

### Illegal adoptions

In 2018, Ekman revealed in an article in Aftonbladet that children had been stolen from China for adoption when politician Ulf Kristersson had a tenure as chairman of the Swedish Adoption Center. He has since become the leader of the Moderate Party and further on Prime Minister of Sweden. Over thirty children were placed from orphanages involved in human trafficking. The article was followed up by a report in Dagens Nyheter in 2022, which showed that Kristersson was aware of the suspicions. Ekman expressed surprise that no investigating journalists had picked up the story.

### Israel

Ekman argues that Israel as a state is "built on occupation, the displacement of people, and apartheid" and that this should be criticized.In the summer of 2015, she participated as an activist aboard one of the ships in the Ship to Gaza campaign to protest against Israel's blockade of Gaza. The ship was overtaken by the Israeli military, and she was subsequently detained for a week in Giv'on Prison in Ramla.

### Views on capitalism and robotization

Ekman has given a TEDx talk on capitalism. In her speech, she explains that she sees the past thirty years as a right-wing offensive, where capitalists have sought to recover the lost profits of the oil crisis through three strategies. First, by privatizing and infiltrating the welfare sector, second, by engaging in banking and speculative activities to a greater extent, and third, by lowering wages and/or relocating to low-wage countries. In the Swedish Television program Idévärlden in 2017, she states that capitalism is anarchistic by nature.

### Labor market

In several articles, Ekman has written about the class society and the growing social disparities. She has criticized, among other things, why work-related accidents involving workers do not receive any attention in the media, as in this article from 2020: "There are no online threads where hobby detectives try to figure out what happened. It doesn't become a political issue where parties try to outdo each other in who does the most. And companies are almost never prosecuted for causing the deaths of workers. It's as if the whole of Sweden silently accepts that our country should be built at the expense of sacrificing workers, especially Eastern Europeans."

## Editorial board at Dagens ETC

Swedish left-wing magazine and publisher ETC started a daily newspaper, Dagens ETC, in 2014. It was a print publication with a clear left-wing profile and Ekman was contracted as an freelance writer of the editorials. Her contract was terminated with immediate effect in April 2022 after she wrote an article about the Ukrainian newspaper The Kyiv Independent, in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine 2022. Ekman's article is an investigative report on the economic and political interests that influence the Ukrainian newspaper. The article focuses on the newspaper's financing, which Ekman argues comes from the European Endowment for Democracy and the Canadian government. The article also addresses the connections between the CEO and the defense reporter of the newspaper with the Ukrainian militia Azov Brigade, particularly highlighting their links to nazism, as well as the affiliations of many of the reporters with the U.S. Department of State and USAID.
The article was accused of reproducing Russian propaganda, casting suspicion on Ukraine, and praising Putin. Specific criticism was directed at Ekman for choosing this topic during an ongoing war. ETC decided to end its collaboration with Ekman, who was also accused of plagiarism since a similar article had been published before hers. However, Andreas Gustavsson, the editor-in-chief of ETC, had already reviewed Ekman's article prior to its publication and was able to refute the plagiarism allegations. He also clarified that the article was not the reason for ending the collaboration but rather Ekis' behavior on social media. On Instagram, Ekman had compared RT (TV channel) with Telesur, Al-Jazeera, and CNN. Gustavsson was accused of inability to recognize Russian propaganda, despite several articles with similar messages to Ekman's being published in close proximity to her article.
ETC's actions were questioned from various quarters, and a debate on freedom of speech and press freedom ensued. Several writers at ETC, including Nina Björk, Aleksa Lundberg, and Stefan Sundström, have expressed their support for Ekman's position as an opinion columnist, including through an open letter published in ETC and signed by twelve colleagues who write for ETC.

## Executive editor at Arbetaren

After the summer of 2022, the chairman of the board of the syndicalist magazine Arbetaren, Thomas Karlsson, announced that he had appointed Ekman, after only three days on the job, as the acting editor-in-chief for a year. This decision sparked protests when the editorial staff and the board learned about it. The protests resulted in several employees receiving warnings, the resignation of the board, and the temporary intervention of the central committee of the owner, the labor union SAC Syndikalisterna, taking over as a new board. The new board terminated the agreement with Ekman, which she refused to accept, citing Swedish Employment Protection Act (LAS) among other reasons. Consequently, Ekman was relieved of her duties and subsequently filed a lawsuit against the newspaper. She won the lawsuit, the court found the contract breach unlawful, and Arbetaren had to compensate for lost income for the full year and damage.

## Arbetarbloggen

During her time at the newspaper Arbetaren (The Worker), she began setting up a blog called "arbetarbloggen" (i.e "the Workers' Blog"), where anyone should be able to blog about their everyday work place. The newspaper shared stairways with the syndicalist labor union SAC, and she was inspired by stories from their visitors. However, the newspaper did not follow through with the launch, and when she had to leave, she started arbetarbloggen.se, where workers can submit stories about their everyday work experiences. She is the editor-in-chief, and anyone can contribute to the blog with the option to remain anonymous. The blog is not intended to report on misconduct or serve as another platform for political debate. One of the points is that workers spend a significant part of their lives at work, but it is rarely mentioned on social media or other interaction creating a lack of knowledge about each other's everyday experiences.

## Awards

* 2010 – Robespierre Prize
* 2015 – Swedish-Greek of the Year, appointed by "Nämnden för kulturellt samarbete mellan Sverige och Grekland", an Governmental board för cultural cooperation between Sweden and Greece.
* 2016 – Sara Lidman Award
* 2020 – Lenin Award

## Footnotes

* ↑ Vårdguiden has changed its name and URL to www.1177.se and also changed the text about gender, make a difference between Physical sex, Gender identity, Gender expression, Assigned sex at birth, Legal sex and Speech gender (he,she, it)