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Publications (10 of 13) Show all publications
Bjarnesen, M. (2025). Beyond Coping? Young Military Women and Gendered Coping Strategies in the Swedish Armed Forces. Gender Issues, 42(2)
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Beyond Coping? Young Military Women and Gendered Coping Strategies in the Swedish Armed Forces
2025 (English)In: Gender Issues, ISSN 1098-092X, E-ISSN 1936-4717, Vol. 42, no 2Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Based on in-depth interviews with female cadets, this article explores what it is like to be a young military woman in the 2020s. Focusing on the Swedish Armed Forces this study takes its point of departure in minority group processes examined from a gender perspective. How do young military women navigate challenges specific to their gendered positionalities, and to what extent are coping strategies needed in this male-dominated environment? The article concludes that despite an increased focus on gender equality and a more welcoming attitude to military women, persistent norms of masculinity remain challenging for women in military settings. At the same time, young military women may have found new ways of navigating the burden of visibility that women in minority often struggle with. For example, while gendered performance pressure remains a reality, strategies of disassociating oneself from other women, in line with previous theorising, do not appear to be a dominant coping strategy. This generation of women entered the military under different circumstances than those who paved the way. The reassurance of being strategically prioritised may have inspired new ways of navigating a fear of visibility, in contrast with previous generations who often rejected the idea of female networks within the organisation. Young military women of today might therefore be more inclined to fight structural challenges. Given the gendered challenges military women still face, it remains to be seen whether these forms of gendered empowerment will be enough to retain them.

National Category
Gender Studies
Research subject
War Studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:fhs:diva-13201 (URN)10.1007/s12147-024-09346-4 (DOI)
Available from: 2024-11-06 Created: 2024-11-06 Last updated: 2025-01-09Bibliographically approved
Bjarnesen, M. (2023). Hybrid security governance in Liberia in the aftermath of UN intervention. Conflict, Security and Development, 23(1), 1-22
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Hybrid security governance in Liberia in the aftermath of UN intervention
2023 (English)In: Conflict, Security and Development, ISSN 1467-8802, E-ISSN 1478-1174, Vol. 23, no 1, p. 1-22Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

What can we expect in terms of security governance in targeted states as international peacebuilding interventions and security sector reform ends? Can we assume that years of reform and capacity building will result in formal security institutions whose function alone can explain stability or instability, sustainable peace or relapses into violence, or even war? In 2018, the United Nations ended its peacekeeping mission in Liberia. Celebrated as a success and role model for future undertakings, scrutinising the UN narrative may appear as a natural starting point for analysing Liberia’s relative stability. Yet, in the Liberian case, formal performance reviews will never be sufficient. This paper, with a conceptual point of departure in theories of hybrid security governance, recognises the continued entangled nature of formal and informal security provision in Liberia. It argues that post-intervention narratives of success should not keep us from assessing security beyond formal state capacity. Instead, holistic approaches are key to understand security governance as non-state security providers are, for better or worse, likely to remain relevant despite years of reform and capacity building.

Keywords
Liberia, hybrid security governance, security sector reform, informal security provision, vigilantism, non-state actors
National Category
Political Science
Research subject
War Studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:fhs:diva-11474 (URN)10.1080/14678802.2023.2178100 (DOI)
Available from: 2023-03-02 Created: 2023-03-02 Last updated: 2023-06-12Bibliographically approved
Bjarnesen, M. (2021). Agents of urban (in)security: contextualising the banning of political vigilantism in Ghana. Journal of the British Academy, 9(s11), 19-39
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Agents of urban (in)security: contextualising the banning of political vigilantism in Ghana
2021 (English)In: Journal of the British Academy, ISSN 2052-7217, Vol. 9, no s11, p. 19-39Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

In 2019, a new law banning vigilantism was adopted in the West African nation of Ghana. The law followed years of debate and violent incidents related to the presence of informally mobilised so-called ‘political vigilantes’, charged with providing security during political events. At first glance, the ridding of such state-competing elements through legal measures appears unproblematic and in line with democratic values. However, as this article argues, by drawing on the case study of Ghana and the pre-2020 election phase, such legal actions against non-state actors can be problematic and, in the worst case, constitute a threat to security and stability if public trust in authorities and formal state security providers is not sufficiently solid. Grounded in a broader discussion on security in fragile contexts and urban centres on the African continent, this article analyses the consequences of banning vigilantism where formal security provision is weak or not fully trusted.

Keywords
Political vigilantism, foot soldiers, Ghana, election-related violence
National Category
Political Science
Research subject
War Studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:fhs:diva-10532 (URN)10.5871/jba/009s11.019 (DOI)
Available from: 2021-12-13 Created: 2021-12-13 Last updated: 2022-02-11Bibliographically approved
Bjarnesen, M. (2020). Repurposed Rebels: Postwar Rebel Networks in Liberia. Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Repurposed Rebels: Postwar Rebel Networks in Liberia
2020 (English)Book (Refereed)
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 2020. p. 184
Series
Studies in Security and International Affairs
National Category
Other Social Sciences
Research subject
Krigsvetenskap
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:fhs:diva-9384 (URN)9780820357775 (ISBN)
Available from: 2020-08-20 Created: 2020-08-20 Last updated: 2020-09-18Bibliographically approved
Bjarnesen, M. (2020). The foot soldiers of Accra. African Affairs, 119(475), 296-307
Open this publication in new window or tab >>The foot soldiers of Accra
2020 (English)In: African Affairs, ISSN 0001-9909, E-ISSN 1468-2621, Vol. 119, no 475, p. 296-307Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Oxford University Press, 2020
National Category
Other Social Sciences
Research subject
Krigsvetenskap
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:fhs:diva-9380 (URN)10.1093/afraf/adz028 (DOI)000537344200006 ()
Available from: 2020-08-20 Created: 2020-08-20 Last updated: 2021-09-23Bibliographically approved
Bjarnesen, M. (2018). The Winner Takes it All: Post-War Rebel Networks, Big Man Politics and the Threat of Violence in the 2011 Liberian Elections. In: Mimmi Söderberg Kovacs;Jesper Bjarnesen (Ed.), Violence in African Elections: between Democracy and Big Man Politics. Zed Books
Open this publication in new window or tab >>The Winner Takes it All: Post-War Rebel Networks, Big Man Politics and the Threat of Violence in the 2011 Liberian Elections
2018 (English)In: Violence in African Elections: between Democracy and Big Man Politics / [ed] Mimmi Söderberg Kovacs;Jesper Bjarnesen, Zed Books, 2018Chapter in book (Refereed)
Abstract [en]

The holding of multiparty elections has become the bellwether by which all democracies are judged, and the spread of such systems across Africa has been widely hailed as a sign of the continent’s progress towards stability and prosperity. But such elections bring their own challenges, particularly the often intense internecine violence that can follow disputed results. While the consequences of such violence can be profound, undermining the legitimacy of the democratic process and in some cases plunging countries into civil war or renewed dictatorship, little is known about the causes of this violence. By mapping, analyzing, and comparing instances of election violence in different localities across Africa, this collection of detailed case studies sheds light on the underlying dynamics and sub-national causes behind electoral conflicts. It reveals them to be the result of a complex interplay between democratization and the older, patronage-based system of “Big Man” politics and offers practical suggestions for preventing such violence through improved electoral monitoring, voter education, and international assistance.Appealing to policy makers and scholars across the social sciences and humanities interested in democratization, peace-keeping, and peace studies, Violence in African Elections provides important insights into why some communities prove more prone to electoral violence than others, and what can be done to help more democracies succeed.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Zed Books, 2018
Series
Africa Now
National Category
Political Science
Research subject
Krigsvetenskap
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:fhs:diva-8149 (URN)9781786992284 (ISBN)9781786992314 (ISBN)
Available from: 2018-09-06 Created: 2018-09-06 Last updated: 2019-02-11Bibliographically approved
Bjarnesen, M. (2016). From Perpetrator to Protector?: Post-War Rebel Networks as Informal Security Providers in Liberia. (Doctoral dissertation). London: King's College London
Open this publication in new window or tab >>From Perpetrator to Protector?: Post-War Rebel Networks as Informal Security Providers in Liberia
2016 (English)Doctoral thesis, monograph (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

The dismantling of rebel structures at the end of civil war is often considered to be one of the most important aspects of a successful transition to peace. Combatants are expected to lay down their weapons, but also to abandon their wartime networks. Yet, peace agreements and subsequent Disarmament Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) processes do not automatically, or necessarily, destroy rebel networks. In Liberia such structures have lingered since the war came to an end in 2003 and networks of ex-combatants are still active, though maintained and mobilised for new purposes.

The security political situation in Liberia, with weak formal security institutions and a history of predatory behaviour, has created an environment where informal initiatives for security and protection are called upon. In such an environment informal security groups have a natural platform. Based on original interview material and findings from fieldwork this thesis examines how post-war rebel networks are organised and operate in the informal security arena, while describing the rationale behind these lingering features of war. By doing so this thesis sheds light on how the adaptive capacity of former rebel soldiers is utilised by various Liberian actors, and the risks, but also possible positive outcomes, of such a development.

This dissertation follows individuals, former rebel commanders in particular, in post-war rebel networks from the time of war to 2013. We will see them, and ex-combatants around them, mobilised as ‘recycled’ warriors in times of regional wars and crisis, as vigilantes and informal security providers for economic and political purposes. Yet, we will also meet them when there are no specific event ex-combatants could be mobilised to fully examine the relevance of post-war rebel networks and ex-combatant identity in contemporary Liberia. In the conclusions basic underlying aims and purposes with the processes of demobilisation and reintegration are challenged. And as this thesis finds, one might even argue that these ex-combatants have succeeded in reintegrating themselves due to, not despite, the fact that they have not been demobilised.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
London: King's College London, 2016. p. 215
National Category
Other Social Sciences
Research subject
Krigsvetenskap
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:fhs:diva-6638 (URN)
Public defence
2016-11-29, London, 10:00 (English)
Opponent
Supervisors
Available from: 2017-03-29 Created: 2017-03-14 Last updated: 2017-05-03Bibliographically approved
Persson, M. (2012). Demobilized or Remobilized?: Lingering Rebel Structures in Post-War Liberia. In: Utas, Mats (Ed.), African Conflicts and Informal Power: Big Men and Networks (pp. 101-118). London: Zed Books
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Demobilized or Remobilized?: Lingering Rebel Structures in Post-War Liberia
2012 (English)In: African Conflicts and Informal Power: Big Men and Networks / [ed] Utas, Mats, London: Zed Books, 2012, p. 101-118Chapter in book (Refereed)
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
London: Zed Books, 2012
National Category
Political Science
Research subject
Krigsvetenskap
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:fhs:diva-6637 (URN)9781848138827 (ISBN)
Available from: 2017-03-14 Created: 2017-03-14 Last updated: 2017-08-02Bibliographically approved
Grönberg, G., Persson, M. & Ring, S. (2011). Conflict Analysis: Handbook (1ed.). Stockholm: Försvarshögskolan
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Conflict Analysis: Handbook
2011 (English)Book (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

This handbook describes a method of performing conflict analysis as part of strategic planning. The purpose, amongst others, is to achieve a more cohesive and coordinated effort by civilian and military components. The conflict analysis described here involves two different ways of presenting results achieved. Firstly, a method where the primary purpose is to visualize key factors in a way so as to create an understanding of the wholeness and how the various subfactors interact overall. Secondly, written documentation is used; the purpose being to increase knowledge of the various problem areas by presenting background information and by writing down and compiling the discussions which arise while conflict analysis is taking place.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Stockholm: Försvarshögskolan, 2011. p. 48 Edition: 1
Keywords
analysis, crisis, actors, threat
National Category
Political Science (excluding Public Administration Studies and Globalisation Studies)
Research subject
Statsvetenskap med inriktning mot strategi och säkerhetspolitik
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:fhs:diva-2147 (URN)978-91-86137-06-9 (ISBN)
Available from: 2011-11-21 Created: 2011-11-14 Last updated: 2018-01-12Bibliographically approved
Persson, M. & Kantor, A. (2011). Liberian Vigilantes: Informal Security Providers on the Margins of Security Sector Reform. In: Ekengren, Magnus & Simons, Greg (Ed.), The Politics of Security Sector Reform: Challenges and Opportunities for the European Union’s Global Role (pp. 273-304). Farnham: Ashgate
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Liberian Vigilantes: Informal Security Providers on the Margins of Security Sector Reform
2011 (English)In: The Politics of Security Sector Reform: Challenges and Opportunities for the European Union’s Global Role / [ed] Ekengren, Magnus & Simons, Greg, Farnham: Ashgate, 2011, p. 273-304Chapter in book (Refereed)
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Farnham: Ashgate, 2011
National Category
Political Science
Research subject
Krigsvetenskap
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:fhs:diva-6636 (URN)9781409410287 (ISBN)9781315554266 (ISBN)
Available from: 2017-03-14 Created: 2017-03-14 Last updated: 2017-04-07Bibliographically approved
Organisations
Identifiers
ORCID iD: ORCID iD iconorcid.org/0000-0001-7675-2557

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