In order to briefly demonstrate the contextual and transnational background of the women’s movement and the temperance movement in Sweden, this paper shortly introduces how female organizations were founded due to the lack of gender equality in the American temperance movement. Thereafter, an excerpt from my dissertation Temperate Women. Educators, Entrepreneurs and Political Agents. The White Ribbon 1900-1930  (2011) follows, in which I conclude the result of my analysis of the Swedish female, Christian, temperance organization The White Ribbon, which was a Swedish branch of The World's Woman's Christian Temperance Union, initially founded in the USA.

I briefly introduce the dissertation’s theoretical perspective of social movement, and give an account of how I analyze The White Ribbon as a political agent. I then summarize the result of my analysis of the White Ribboners participation on the political field and the public debate. In their ambitions to create a temperate society, the White Ribboners demanded women's political and social rights. The claimed that society could only progress if women participated in politics and decision making. The White Ribboners themselves were politically engaged and several had positions in local councils. All over the country organization ran philanthropic institutes, which were not only social companies, but also models or political innovations of how to deal with social problems. The work of the White Ribbon was generated from the feminist ideology of the American female teetotalers, and in the final discussion the conclusion highlights the American influence on the Swedish White Ribboners.