12/16/2023 0 Comments Camp bastion afghanistanIn this dissertation, I seek to throw fresh light on contemporary Danish soldiering through a perspective of ‘becoming’. What if Danish soldiers did not travel thousands of miles to wage war in Afghanistan for the sake of Danes, let alone for Afghans? What if Danish troops were at heart neither the patriots nor the humanitarians that one might be led to believe by the dominant account of Denmark’s war in Afghanistan? What if, instead, Danish grunts, the lowranking soldiers in the army’s combat arms, turned to the distant Afghan ‘theatre of war’ in pursuit of becoming what they potentially could be: ‘true warriors’? Consequently, this thesis brings unique insights into ef- forts made by the armed forces to render war preparations and deployments not only acceptable but also attractive to the population of a liberal democracy. This form of power reproduces neoliberal claims of what it means to be a productive and desirable citizen and suggests ways to achieve this enterprise through different interactions with the armed forces. Instead, the thesis proposes an understanding of voluntary military recruit- ment and marketing practices as a regulating form of power. It further demonstrates how the SAF is promoted as both a symbol and guarantor of a responsible and progres- sive nation/state.īy reading the birth of the AVF as a form of government through freedom, this thesis problematises the liberal claim that voluntary military service symbol- ises a removal of power and government from the private sphere of the individu- al. The thesis shows how marketing and outreach promote the SAF as an entrepreneurial and inclusive organisation offering opportunities for personal, professional and cor- poral development to a wide diversity of citizens. It does so through a compilation of four research articles, each analysing different sites of military marketing and public outreach, including recruitment campaigns, social media activities and public events. The aim is to contribute insights into how the Swedish population is called upon to identify as soldiers and supporters of the armed forces in order to enable war preparations and deployments. ![]() This thesis studies the SAF’s efforts to cast the military organization as an at- tractive employer and public authority in the era of voluntarism. The Swedish Armed Forces (SAF) was now ex- posed to competition over labour, and soldiering was no longer a duty connected to male citizenship. In 2010, Sweden abandoned its century-old military conscription in favour of an All-Volunteer Force (AVF).
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