Logotyp: till Försvarshögskolans hemsida

This study adopts a post-structuralist point of view in order to examine the discoursive legitimation of the incorporation of a gender perspective in the Swedish Armed Forces. This is done by analysing empiric material primarily consisting of one of three parts of Handbook Gender as well as newspaper articles aimed both at the Swedish public and at the Swedish Armed Forces itself. Methodologically the study is conducted by applying Theo van Leeuwen’s discourse analytical framework of identifying legitimation arguments to the chosen empiric material. This is done order to establish what kind of legitimation arguments have been the most frequently used: rational, moral, or authority-based. The study finds that the Swedish Armed Forces has used a majority of rational arguments, a finding which is then discussed from a poststructuralist and gender-theoretical point of view. The author argues that the legitimation of a gender perspective in the Swedish Armed Forces has been done in harmony with the organization’s identity as an inherently masculine authority. This opens up to questions regarding whether the implementation of a gender perspective can be done without changing persisting norms of masculinity in the Swedish Armed Forces.