In the grey zone : Threat representations and security practices in the Swedish militarization process
(2025) In Security Dialogue- Abstract
In Sweden, the national security objective to establish a total defence, which has been pending since the end of the Cold War, has been reintroduced. This has increasingly shifted the attention from civil crisis management to military defence, with subsequent increased resources for defence mobilization. A key threat representation in the current Swedish security narrative is the grey zone, which refers to a new, complex security situation framed as neither war nor peace. In this article, the idea of the grey zone is traced in the national discourse by analysing government policies and mass media content from 2010 to 2021. This threat representation has implications as it conditions perceptions and security work in particular ways.... (More)
In Sweden, the national security objective to establish a total defence, which has been pending since the end of the Cold War, has been reintroduced. This has increasingly shifted the attention from civil crisis management to military defence, with subsequent increased resources for defence mobilization. A key threat representation in the current Swedish security narrative is the grey zone, which refers to a new, complex security situation framed as neither war nor peace. In this article, the idea of the grey zone is traced in the national discourse by analysing government policies and mass media content from 2010 to 2021. This threat representation has implications as it conditions perceptions and security work in particular ways. These implications are discussed in relation to the Swedish Security Protection Act and its impact on public administration, cooperative settings and daily work practices. While national policies stress how defence mobilization will provide security and benefit the societal response to all kinds of crises, these security practices may have unforeseen consequences, fostering a culture of suspicion and accusation. Moreover, practices of secrecy and suspicions may ultimately threaten the Swedish constitutional principles of transparency – one of the key core values that the Swedish total defence aims to protect.
(Less)
- author
- Svenbro, Maja LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2025
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- epub
- subject
- keywords
- Grey zone, militarization, security narrative, threat representation, total defence
- in
- Security Dialogue
- article number
- 09670106251329881
- publisher
- SAGE Publications
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:105005575888
- ISSN
- 0967-0106
- DOI
- 10.1177/09670106251329881
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2025.
- id
- bd7edef3-f638-4931-b0be-3f9d91b50180
- date added to LUP
- 2025-08-15 13:03:11
- date last changed
- 2025-08-15 13:03:27
@article{bd7edef3-f638-4931-b0be-3f9d91b50180,
abstract = {{<p>In Sweden, the national security objective to establish a total defence, which has been pending since the end of the Cold War, has been reintroduced. This has increasingly shifted the attention from civil crisis management to military defence, with subsequent increased resources for defence mobilization. A key threat representation in the current Swedish security narrative is the grey zone, which refers to a new, complex security situation framed as neither war nor peace. In this article, the idea of the grey zone is traced in the national discourse by analysing government policies and mass media content from 2010 to 2021. This threat representation has implications as it conditions perceptions and security work in particular ways. These implications are discussed in relation to the Swedish Security Protection Act and its impact on public administration, cooperative settings and daily work practices. While national policies stress how defence mobilization will provide security and benefit the societal response to all kinds of crises, these security practices may have unforeseen consequences, fostering a culture of suspicion and accusation. Moreover, practices of secrecy and suspicions may ultimately threaten the Swedish constitutional principles of transparency – one of the key core values that the Swedish total defence aims to protect.</p>}},
author = {{Svenbro, Maja}},
issn = {{0967-0106}},
keywords = {{Grey zone; militarization; security narrative; threat representation; total defence}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{SAGE Publications}},
series = {{Security Dialogue}},
title = {{In the grey zone : Threat representations and security practices in the Swedish militarization process}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/09670106251329881}},
doi = {{10.1177/09670106251329881}},
year = {{2025}},
}