During part 2 of the interview that I did with Dóra Björt Guðjónsdóttir, Iceland’s youngest President of the Reykjavík City Council, she reveals even more details about Icelandic society that are unknown to the outside world. If you haven’t listened to part 1 yet, I highly recommend that you do because Dóra shares some insightful information about Icelandic politics and society.
In this episode, Dóra talks more about Iceland’s aggressive discussion culture and ways she is working to combat it in order to foster a more democratic society. She also hits on the shift toward freedom of the press, independent media, transparency and the growing feeling in Icelandic people that it is their responsibility to care about what is happening in politics in their country. However, there is a long way to go and this interview opened my eyes to some deep seated beliefs in Iceland.
The Questions I Asked Dóra During the Interview
- Have other women assimilated to using masculine and aggressive ways of expressing themselves in the City Council?
- Are men aware of the aggressive discussion culture and their role?
- From a foreigner or outsider’s view, it seems as though the 2008 financial crash in Iceland sparked a change in the government because the people demanded it. How different is the political landscape now as opposed to before the crash?
- What do you feel are some important topics being discussed in Iceland that people who live outside of the country or those that do not understand the language would not be aware of?
- The financial crisis in 2008 and some scandals since then have weakened some people’s confidence in politicians in Iceland. What do you feel politicians and the government as a whole needs to do to gain back the confidence of Icelandic people?
I hope you enjoyed listening to part 2 of this interview. The third and final part will be released next week, so make sure you are subscribed to the All Things Iceland podcast so you don’t miss it. If you are able to leave a review, please do so, if you haven’t already.
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Þakka þér kærlega fyrir að hlusta (og að lesa) og sjáumst fljótlega (Thank you kindly for listening (and reading) and see you soon!