Dr. Annika Forssén is a general practitioner and Associate Professor in Family Medicine at Umea University, Sweden. Dr. Gunilla Carlstedt is a retired general practitioner and PhD. The research presented here was originally published as a joint thesis in Swedish in 1999: Mellan ansvar och makt. En diskussion om arbete, hälsa och ohälsa utifrån tjugo kvinnors livsberättelser. In Women in Swedish Society this material has been substantially revised and updated. The English translation is by Rochelle Wright, Professor Emerita at the University of Illinois, and is published as part of Welsh Academic Press' Scandinavia and the Baltic - Transnational and International Challenges series edited by Professor Jason Lavery of Oklahoma State University.