Abstract
This session aims to unpack what might be considered a gendered Nordic model of security work; a model in which gender equality and diversity are portrayed as increasingly important, both on a policy level and in everyday security work. Since the 1960´s, there has been an increased focus on gender equality in Nordic security organizations, and indeed in organizations more broadly. Today, traditionally male-dominated security organizations find themselves under political pressure to become more inclusive, in terms of gender but also by challenging heteronormativity and homophobia as well as (in some cases) hegemonic whiteness and racism. Security organizations such as the armed forces have described gender equality and diversity more broadly as a means to overcome recruitment shortages, increase operational efficiency, and to better represent citizens and societal values.
In the session, we explore how pressures and aspirations to diversify Nordic security organizations shape perceptions of security, security work and the subject of security (including nation and citizen identities), but also how conceptions of security enable and constrain particular understandings of equality, diversity and inclusion. We invite scholars to explore historical as well as contemporary aspects of gender and other intersecting hierarchies in/and security work, within a Nordic context. We welcome case studies of security organizations beyond the armed forces, including the police, fire-fighters, private security companies etc., comparative studies across the Nordic countries, as well as efforts to unpack the notion of a Nordic model of security work conceptually and theoretically.
Organizers
Alma Persson, PhD, is an Associate Professor at tema Genus, Linköping University, Sweden. Her research interests include studies on gender, work and organizations; gender and the military; critical studies of men and masculinity; and studies on gender and violence. Persson is currently involved in two research projects that focus on gender relations in military work; one focusing on the implementation of gender-neutral conscription and one on gender, diversity and security in the Nordic countries. Recent publications include “Conscripting women: Gender, soldiering, and military service in Sweden 1965-2018” in Women’s History Review (2019) (with Fia Sundevall) and “Letting the Right Ones in. Gendered Boundary Work in the Military Profession”, forthcoming in the edited volume Transformation of military profession and professionalism (with Beate Sløk-Andersen).
Sanna Strand, PhD, , is a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Economic History and International Relations, Stockholm University, and a guest researcher at the Austrian Institute for International Affairs in Vienna. Strand’s research focuses on intersections between war and war preparations; military power, conscription and recruitment as well as gendered and sexualized soldier and citizen identities. Strand is currently working on a post-doc project on the reimagination of military conscription in Europe after 2010, with a particular focus on gender-neutral conscription in Sweden and Norway. Recent publications include “’A country to fall in love with/in’: gender and sexuality in Swedish Armed Forces’ marketing campaigns”, in International Feminist Journal of Politics (2019) (with Katharina Kehl) and “Periods, pregnancy and peeing: leaky feminine bodies in Swedish military marketing”, forthcoming in International Political Sociology (with Maria Stern).