Berit Ås

Berit Ås (born April 10, 1928) is a noted Norwegian politician, professor of social psychology, and feminist.

Born in 1928 in Fredrikstad in Østfold, Ås's parents were teachers. Her mother and maternal grandmother were both politically active, and her father was an avid reader and inventor. She completed her university degree in 1953 and worked on issues related to smoking hazards, consumer protection, children's safety, and housing. She taught and conducted research on women's issues at the University of Oslo and was also a visiting professor at the University of Missouri.

Ås was long a member of the Norwegian Labour Party. Her first political office was the municipal council in Asker in 1967. Four years later, she led with Karla Skaare what was later known as the non-partisan "women's coup" in 1971, when women achieved majority representation in three of Norway's largest municipal assemblies. In Asker, this initiative was spearheaded by Berit Ås, Tove Billington Bye, Marie Borge Refsum and Kari Bjerke Andreassen. [cite news |first=Elin Reffhaug |last=Johansen |title=Firerbanden er blitt tre |work=Budstikka |date=20 May 2008 |language=Norwegian |accessdate=2008-05-20 ]

She was effectively expelled from the Labour Party during the 1972 EU debate, after which she became the first leader of the Socialist Left Party. She served in the Norwegian parliament from 1973 to 1977, and led several political campaigns, including Women's International Strike for Peace in 1962, the women's movement against membership in the European Union, and others. She was among the first to call for a formal risk assessment of offshore drilling operations in the North Sea.

She also made important contributions to the feminist cause in Norway. She led efforts to establish the Women's University Foundation in Norway, and formulated five Master suppression techniques she claims are used against women in particular, though these may be used against other disadvantaged groups as well.

9/11 conspiracy advocate

Recently, Ås has made headlines in Norway by promoting 9/11 conspiracy theories, namely suggesting that the attacks had not actually occurred, or that they had been orchestrated by the United States government itself [cite news | title = Tviler på 11. september-terror | url = http://www.vl.no/verden/article3296463.ece | work = Vårt Land | location = Oslo, Norway | date = 2008-01-22 | accessdate = 2008-10-05 | language = Norwegian ] and speculating that the video images of the attacks had been digitally manipulated by means of data animation [cite news | first = Simer Aker | last = Grimsrud | title = Sterk kost i diskusjonsforeningen | url = http://www.gjengangeren.no/article/20080117/NYHETER/889022104 | work = Gjengangeren | location = Horten, Norway | date = 2008-01-17 | accessdate = 2008-10-05 | language = Norwegian ] .

References

External links

* [http://www.skk.uio.no/Arkiv/beritaas/forord_beritaas.html Compendium of speeches celebrating her birthday in 2003]

Persondata
NAME = Ås, Berit
ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
SHORT DESCRIPTION = Norwegian politician
DATE OF BIRTH = 10 April 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH = Fredrikstad, Norway
DATE OF DEATH =
PLACE OF DEATH =