Men, Masculinity and the Military
(2013) STVK02 20122Department of Political Science
- Abstract
- My thesis examines the discourse and social practices of the Swedish Armed Forces in Afghanistan. The discourse analysis is used both as a theory and method and takes inspiration from Focault, Laclau, Mouffe and Fairclogh. The view on social relations and gender is that they are constructed through social interaction.
The purpose is to describe and illuminate discourses and social practices which influence the behaviour of soldiers. Today, the Swedish military is considered one of the most equal militaries in the world. Still, discrimination, prejudice, harassment and violence exist in the military society. The focus of similar studies has traditionally been on women but this study examines the men and masculinity. Certain attributes... (More) - My thesis examines the discourse and social practices of the Swedish Armed Forces in Afghanistan. The discourse analysis is used both as a theory and method and takes inspiration from Focault, Laclau, Mouffe and Fairclogh. The view on social relations and gender is that they are constructed through social interaction.
The purpose is to describe and illuminate discourses and social practices which influence the behaviour of soldiers. Today, the Swedish military is considered one of the most equal militaries in the world. Still, discrimination, prejudice, harassment and violence exist in the military society. The focus of similar studies has traditionally been on women but this study examines the men and masculinity. Certain attributes connected to masculinity are favoured and feminine attributes are seen as negative. Different material is used as a base for the analysis including soldiers who have served in Afghanistan, documentary series about the life of Swedish soldiers in Afghanistan and a newspaper article.
The study is done by analysing the interviews and other material with theory about masculinity, discourse, violence and the military. Social practices and structures that are affecting and reproducing masculinities are presented in the conclusion. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/3358052
- author
- Holmgren, Petter LU
- supervisor
- organization
- alternative title
- Deep diving into a world of men and violence
- course
- STVK02 20122
- year
- 2013
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- keywords
- Military, Masculinity, Discourse, Violence
- language
- English
- id
- 3358052
- date added to LUP
- 2013-02-05 14:34:31
- date last changed
- 2013-02-05 14:34:31
@misc{3358052, abstract = {{My thesis examines the discourse and social practices of the Swedish Armed Forces in Afghanistan. The discourse analysis is used both as a theory and method and takes inspiration from Focault, Laclau, Mouffe and Fairclogh. The view on social relations and gender is that they are constructed through social interaction. The purpose is to describe and illuminate discourses and social practices which influence the behaviour of soldiers. Today, the Swedish military is considered one of the most equal militaries in the world. Still, discrimination, prejudice, harassment and violence exist in the military society. The focus of similar studies has traditionally been on women but this study examines the men and masculinity. Certain attributes connected to masculinity are favoured and feminine attributes are seen as negative. Different material is used as a base for the analysis including soldiers who have served in Afghanistan, documentary series about the life of Swedish soldiers in Afghanistan and a newspaper article. The study is done by analysing the interviews and other material with theory about masculinity, discourse, violence and the military. Social practices and structures that are affecting and reproducing masculinities are presented in the conclusion.}}, author = {{Holmgren, Petter}}, language = {{eng}}, note = {{Student Paper}}, title = {{Men, Masculinity and the Military}}, year = {{2013}}, }