Agents of peace and objects of protection: An investigation into the effects of militarization on the agency of Swedish female peacekeepers in MINUSMA
2021 (English)Independent thesis Advanced level (degree of Master (Two Years)), 20 credits / 30 HE credits
Student thesis
Abstract [en]
In the years following 9/11, research has shown that United Nations peacekeeping has grown increasingly militarized. Meanwhile, there have long been calls for women’s increased participation in peacekeeping, for a myriad of reasons mainly founded on instrumental and essentialist arguments. According to feminist theories, however, militarization would limit the agency of women as they are often placed in marginalized, protected roles when such a militarization occurs. Against this background, this thesis has utilized a visual and textual discourse analysis to investigate memory books published by the Swedish Armed Forces, which detail the presence of the Swedish contingency in MINUSMA in the period 2014-2019, to understand the connection between female peacekeeper’s agency and the increasing militarization of the UN’s most deadly peacekeeping mission. The findings suggest that militarization does not seem to limit the agency of Swedish female peacekeepers, who have seen their roles become more varied and seemingly possess more agency later than earlier on in the mission, despite an increased militarization of the peacekeeping mission. The thesis thus contributes to an underexamined connection between agency and militarization in the context of peacekeepers, while exploring a heretofore unexamined material. In doing so, the thesis opens for further research in both the material itself as well as further comparative studies.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2021. , p. 56
Keywords [en]
peacekeeping, militarization, gender, MINUSMA, Swedish armed forces, agency
National Category
Political Science
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:fhs:diva-9679OAI: oai:DiVA.org:fhs-9679DiVA, id: diva2:1523875
Subject / course
Political Science with a focus on Security Studies (Master's programme in Politics and War)
Educational program
Master's programme in Politics and War
Supervisors
Examiners
2021-03-032021-01-292021-03-03Bibliographically approved