Katrín Jakobsdóttir

(born 1976)

“I think women work differently in politics than men. They use different methods.”

Years in political office: 2009–present

Position: prime minister of Iceland, 2017–present; chairperson of the Left-Green Movement, 2013–present; minister of education, science and culture, 2009–2013

Party affiliation: Left-Green Movement

Hometown: Reykjavík, Iceland

Top causes: climate change, women’s rights, and refugee rights

Life Story

Katrín Jakobsdóttir grew up among individuals who made their mark not only in policy but also in the world of arts and culture. Her family tree features grandfather Sigurður S. Thoroddsen, a member of parliament; poet Dagur Sigurðarson, her uncle; and her older twin brothers, who teach at the University of Iceland.

Early on, she made her career in academia, getting a master’s degree in Icelandic literature. She developed a reputation as one of the intellectual authorities on Nordic crime fiction and also worked as a language consultant at a public broadcasting news agency. She was inspired to enter politics by the controversial construction of the Kárahnjúkar Hydropower Plant in the east Icelandic wilderness, which at the time was one of Europe’s largest unspoiled natural areas. Iceland’s Left-Green movement, committed to the environment, took a stance against the building of the dam, and Jakobsdóttir joined them. Despite her family’s political history, she had never been registered to an official party until that moment. Jakobsdóttir would go on to become a leader in the party, first as its minister of education, science, and culture in 2009 and then its chairperson in 2013. Four years later, she was appointed prime minister of her country.

The prime minister has three sons, which in many places of the world would complicate a woman’s political career. Luckily, in Iceland, an equal distribution of parenting responsibilities is encouraged between parents. The law says that employers have to give moms and dads nine months off work with pay—three months for one partner, three for the other, and three that they can decide how to allot between the two of them.

What’s on Her Agenda

Her country calls her simply Katrín. In Iceland, all people are known by their first names, which tells you something about the intimacy that is possible in a country of 340,000 people—about the same population as Honolulu, Hawai‘i! But aside from tradition, Jakobsdóttir does seem to be more beloved in her country than your average global policy maker. The pragmatic ex-literature professor arrived in the nick of time for her country, which was on pretty shaky ground after its government collapsed twice, in 2016 and 2017. Jakobsdóttir was the fourth prime minister to take office in two years.

Iceland’s woes began in 2008, when the Nordic country was a canary in the coal mine regarding the global financial crisis that brought down entire stock markets. (A woman guided the nation through that dark time as well: trade unionist Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir [page 68], who became the world’s first openly LGBTQ leader of a country when she was elected prime minister.) The country is still struggling to get its feet on solid ground and saw its last head of government step down after a family scandal.

But Iceland seems to have Jakobsdóttir’s back. One month after her election, a Gallup poll showed that 75 percent of Icelanders supported the new government. She may have won some of that faith because of her willingness to compromise. That flexibility became apparent when she formed a coalition in the parliament between her feminist and socialist Left-Green Movement, the conservative Independence Party, and the center-right Progressive Party. Some of the leftists weren’t too happy with that alliance, but Jakobsdóttir thinks that such a show of consensus building is key to maintaining voters’ confidence in a country where things have been going a little haywire. “Doing it this way, having very different parties—in both their political perspective and their cultures—working together . . . Yes, it’s a gamble,” she said. “But I really think it’s an opportunity for us to rethink, reinvent ourselves.”

Even with the coalition between different parties, under her watch, the country doesn’t appear to be abandoning its historically progressive values. Early in the Jakobsdóttir administration, the government not only mandated equal pay for men and women but required companies to submit regular proof that it paid people the same regardless of gender. Months later, the prime minister joined women across Iceland in a walkout protest against the enduring wage gap. Jakobsdóttir thanks the #MeToo movement for empowering Icelandic women to speak out against the gender-based harassment they face: “One of the things the #MeToo revolution has taught us all is that oppression of women thrives in silence.”

Environmental issues are another of Jakobsdóttir’s primary concerns, which shouldn’t be surprising since Iceland was an early witness to climate change. Fishing is one of the country’s top industries—but its fish stocks have plummeted as ocean temperatures have risen. Under her watch, the country has promised that it will reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent come 2030.

Awesome Achievements

Quotables

“Crime fiction is about not really trusting anyone. And that’s generally how politics works.”

“I don’t see the struggle for women’s rights as a box-ticking exercise, this is a battle for fundamental human rights and it demands a shift in our cultures; we need to change how we treat and perceive each other.”

“I think this is something you can learn from a small country: Sometimes, we can do this.”

“It’s really weird that I’m the second woman [to be prime minister], I should be number fifteen or so. So in fact to rectify this injustice, there should really be fifteen women prime ministers in a row after me.”