Ship of Shame: Gender and Nation in Narratives of the 1981 Soviet Submarine Crisis in Sweden

Åse, Cecilia

doi:10.1162/jcws_a_00621

Cited by 12 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Even in the face of the increasing globalisation of crisis, war continues to be framed in relation to national interest and identities (Cottle, 2009). Many researchers have analysed mediated discourses, especially on war and national crisis, as sites for the production of national identities, emotional engagement and gender norms (Åse, 2016; Billig, 1995; Cottle, 2007; Nunn, 2002; Shome, 2001). Lilie Chouliaraki argues that in constructing the nation as an imagined community, the mediation of death has distinct significance.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the interpretative work, we initially searched for ‘repeated patterns of meaning’ across the media material (Braun and Clarke, 2006: 15). When relating these preliminary interpretations to the theoretical context, we found that concepts were linked to form what can be termed ‘interpretative frames’ (Åse, 2016: 121; cf. Bacchi, 2005).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The ideal of the unaggressive and masculine ‘neutral warrior’ whose mission was to defend the national territory from foreign intrusion was a pillar of the Swedish armed forces during the Cold War (Kronsell, 2012). Although protection was an unconditionally masculine obligation, the ‘pronounced defensive military posture was potentially unmanly or even feminine’ (Åse, 2016: 120). This ambivalence has not been equally salient in the Danish context.…”

Section: Military Heroism In Denmark and Swedenmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Gendering the new hero narratives: Military death in Denmark and Sweden

Åse¹,

Wendt²

2017

Cooperation and Conflict

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During the 20th century, wars were fought primarily in the name of protecting the homeland. Making the ‘ultimate sacrifice’ was a national masculine duty and a key feature of military heroism. Today, human rights and international values justify war-making and legitimise military action. In one of these post-national wars, the International Security Assistance Force operation in Afghanistan, more than 700 European soldiers have lost their lives. How have these deaths been legitimised, and how has the new security discourse affected notions of masculinised heroism and sacrifice? This article investigates how the dimensions of national/international and masculinity/femininity are negotiated in media narratives of heroism and sacrifice in Denmark and Sweden. Regarding scholarly discussions on the professionalisation, individualisation and domestication of military heroism, the empirical analysis demonstrates that the Danish/Swedish nation remains posited as the core context for military heroism and sacrifice. In the media narratives, professionalism is represented as an expression of specific national qualities. The media narratives conflate nation and family and represent military heroes as distinctively masculine and national figures. It is argued that a family trope has become vital in present-day hero narratives. This trope is disposed towards collective emotions, national loyalty and conservative gender ideals.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Military Heroism In Denmark and Swedenmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Gendering the new hero narratives: Military death in Denmark and Sweden

Åse¹,

Wendt²

2017

Cooperation and Conflict

Self Cite

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“…Tweets targeting the then head of Aftonbladet ’s culture section, Åsa Linderborg, theatre director Stina Oscarson and the former leader of the Feminist Initiative Party, Gudrun Schyman, moreover, question their qualifications for participating in the security debate in the first place. Their advocacy is ridiculed as ‘pathetic ladies’ babble’: ‘They don’t ask shoemakers about medicine or farmers about quantum physics’; ‘It is like asking a parking attendant about brain surgery’; or ‘It is like discussing childbirth with a man.’ While much of the pro-NATO advocacy can be interpreted as reproducing gendered understandings of subjectivity (see also Agius and Edenborg, 2019; Åse, 2016) – the portrayal of Sweden as ‘weak’ and the comparison with a ‘battered wife’ being cases in point – it becomes highly explicit here as these influencers’ incompetence is constructed as inherent to their sex.…”

Section: Text: Productive and Disciplinary Powermentioning

confidence: 99%

Disciplinary power: Text and body in the Swedish NATO debate

Hagström¹

2020

Cooperation and Conflict

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This article draws on identity construction, emotions and a notion of productive power to address the question of why Swedish policymakers and public opinion are becoming increasingly supportive of NATO membership. It contributes theoretically by arguing that such textual phenomena intertwine with ‘disciplinary power’, which operates on the bodies of the subjects of power, exposing them to verbal and physical sanctions, a host of complex feelings and enhanced levels of self-disciplining. The article analyses 354 editorials and op-eds related to Sweden and NATO, published in the four biggest Swedish newspapers in 2014–2018; 1408 tweets, with a focus on 14 selected NATO campaigners and their advocacy; and semi-structured interviews with 12 such influencers. It concludes that Swedish NATO campaigners produce and negotiate emotional discourses in a way that targets other influencers and potential influencers by exposing them to ridicule and allegations of treason. While tendencies are similar on both sides of the debate, the article demonstrates that productive power currently intertwines with disciplinary power in a way that makes anti-NATO advocacy seem more fraught with personal risk than pro-NATO campaigning, and joining NATO appear to be the most normal, realistic and responsible policy option.

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“…While not incorrect, Fasseur overlooks the gendered implications of that decision. As feminist researchers have pointed out, men tend to be presented as responsible for governing and protecting the nation, whereas women are depicted as symbols of the nation's territorial integrity and culture, responsible for reproducing the nation both biologically and culturally (Yuval-Davis 1997;Åse 2016). By this gendered logic, the Dutch ministers' decision to leave their wives and families behind in the Netherlands was a highly symbolic act.…”

Section: Margaret Van Kleffens In Diplomatic Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

Off the record: Margaret van Kleffens and the gendered history of Dutch World War II diplomacy

Erlandsson

2018

International Feminist Journal of Politics

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This article makes the case for recovering women's roles from the forgotten corners of diplomatic history, and for considering the consequences of the gap between feminist and non-feminist research. It shows how ignorance of the gendered nature of diplomatic norms and practices impacts our understanding of diplomatic history, and how specific biographies are hampered by gender blindness in particular. Using the history of Margaret van Kleffens and Dutch World War II diplomacy as an example, the article demonstrates how historians' continued neglect of the role of women and gender norms has influenced representations of twentieth-century diplomacy. To dismiss the history of gender and of women as by definition irrelevant to the actions of states and of male statespersons is not simply part of a selfappointed focus on the political at the expense of the personal; rather, it omits much of the political history too, reproducing stereotypes and resulting in a skewed understanding of diplomatic history and foreign policy decisions. The article argues that both historians and feminist scholars need to historicize gender in order to recognize women's roles in diplomacy, and so gain a better understanding of the history of international politics as a whole.

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Ship of Shame: Gender and Nation in Narratives of the 1981 Soviet Submarine Crisis in Sweden

Cited by 12 publications

References 15 publications

Gendering the new hero narratives: Military death in Denmark and Sweden

Gendering the new hero narratives: Military death in Denmark and Sweden

Disciplinary power: Text and body in the Swedish NATO debate

Off the record: Margaret van Kleffens and the gendered history of Dutch World War II diplomacy

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