Abstract
The process of implementing a gender perspective in the Swedish Armed Forces is far from complete. While it has been an uphill struggle, a number of notable successes have already been achieved — especially in comparison with most other military organizations around the world. This chapter provides a detailed overview of how organizational change within the Swedish Armed Forces occurred for the purpose of implementing UNSCR 1325 in order to develop capacity for applying a gender perspective in the conduct of military operations. Particular emphasis is placed on the underlying strategy that guided the process. While the chapter is not completely limited to being descriptive, the main evaluation of this process is provided in chapter five. Let us nevertheless first provide a brief introduction to the case of the Swedish Armed Forces.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Notes
Olof Kronvall and Magnus Petersson, Svensk sakerhetspolitik i supermakternas skugga 1945–1991, 2nd edn. (Stockholm: Santerus, 2012)
Robert Dalsjö, Life-Line Lost: The Rise and Fall of ‘Neutral’ Sweden’s Secret Reserve Option of Wartime Help from the West (Stockholm: Santerus Forlag, 2006)
Kjell Engelbrekt and Jan Ångström, Svensk säkerhetspolitik i Europa och världen (Stockholm: Norstedts Juridik, 2010).
Karl Ydén, ‘Bringing violence back in — New wars and reprofessionalizing Sweden’s Armed Forces’, in Effect Based Operations, Military Organization and Professionalization, Bengt Abrahamsson, Robert Egnell, and Karl Ydén, eds. (Stockholm: Swedish national defence college, 2005), 92.
Thomas A. Keaney and Eliot A. Cohen, Revolution in Warfare? Air Power in the Persian Gulf (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1995), 199.
Colin S. Gray, ‘The Revolution in Military Affairs’, in Brian Bond and Melvin Mungo (eds), The Nature of Future Conflict: Implications for Force Development (Camberley, Suney: Strategic and Combat Studies Institute, 1998), 58.
See Anthony King, The Transformation of Europe’s A rmed Forces: From the Rhine to Afghanistan (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011).
Jan Angstrom and Jan Willem Honig, ‘Regaining Strategy: Small Powers, Strategic Culture, and Escalation in Afghanistan’. Journal of Strategic Studies 35:5 (October 2012), 663–687.
Annica Kronsell, Gender, Sex, and the Postnational Defence: Militarism and Peacekeeping (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012), 3–4.
For a general discussion, see Donna Winslow, Army Culture. U.S. Army research institute report for the behavioral and social sciences (Ottawa: University of Ottawa, 2000).
For an extended discussion regarding the impact of the defence transformation in Sweden, see Magnus Petersson, ‘Defense Transformation and Legitimacy in Scandinavia after the Cold War: Theoretical and Practical Implications’, Armed Forces & Society 37:4 (October 2011), 701–724.
Swedish Armed Forces, ‘Militärstrategisk doktrin (MSD 12)’ [Military Strategic Doctrine] (Stockholm: Forsvarsmakten, 2011).
F. B. Gumru and J. M. Fritz, ‘Women, Peace and Security: An Analysis of the National Action Plans Developed in Response to UN Security Council Resolution 1325’. Societies Without Borders 4 (2009), 209–225.
Fia Sundevall, Det sista manliga yrkesmonopolet: Genus och militari arbete i Sverige 1865–1989 [The last male work-related monopoly: Gender and the military in Sweden 1865–1989] (Stockholm: Makadam, 2011).
Swedish Armed Forces, ‘Försvarsmaktens årsredovisning 2002, Bilaga 3: Personalberättelse’ (Stockholm: Swedish Armed Forces, 2003), 28.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2014 Robert Egnell, Petter Hojem and Hannes Berts
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Egnell, R., Hojem, P., Berts, H. (2014). Changing the Armed Forces. In: Gender, Military Effectiveness, and Organizational Change. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137385055_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137385055_3
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-48118-7
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-38505-5
eBook Packages: Palgrave Political Science CollectionPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)