Interactive Catalogue

A Nordic model of gender and military work? Labour demand, gender equality and women's integration in the armed forces of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden

Literature Item

Author Information:

• Name: Ahlback Anders, Sundevall Fia, Hjertquist Johanna
• Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03585522.2022.2142661

Abstract:

This article traces the political process towards full formal integration of women in the military professions in Scandinavia and Finland, investigating the shifting roles played by military labour demands and politics of gender equality. It provides the first comparative overview of these developments in the Nordic region. The analysis demonstrates the importance of historical continuity in women's military participation. Due to military labour demands, women were throughout the post-war decades recruited into a range of auxiliary, voluntary and hybrid capacities in the Scandinavian armed forces. The reforms opening the military professions to women in Denmark, Norway and Sweden in the 1970s were the outcome of a double crisis, as military needs for the regulation of these women's organisational status coincided with new political demands for gender equality in the labour market. Corresponding reforms in Finland were delayed by the country's lack of continuity in women's military participation as well as its sufficient supply of male military personnel. A common Nordic model of gender and military work nonetheless emerged in the 1990s, marked by equal rights to military participation for women on a voluntary basis, combined with mandatory military conscription for men.

Keywords:

Military work, Conscription, Gender Equality, Labour Demands, Working Life

Publication Date:

June 27, 2022

Source Specificity:

None, None, None

Website:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03585522.2022.2142661

Power Domains:

Political

Methods Tools:

Gender Training, Competence development, Awareness-raising, Benchmarking

Country:

Norway

City:

Akerhus

Implementation Scale:

International

Language:

English