The academisation of officer education in focus

In a new scientific article, Sebastian Larsson examines the development of Swedish officer education since the 19th century, focusing on its academic aspects.
"Over time, we can see how academia has been used instrumentally by political and military elites, often to protect or strengthen the position of the officer corps in society," he says.

"In principle, the officer corps has always had a complex relationship with academia. Historically, the military organisation has often been sceptical about increased academisation and theoretical elements in military education. At the same time, the mobilization of "academic capital" has proven to be necessary to create the basic legitimacy that the officer corps needs to exist and operate as a profession – especially in peacetime", explains Sebastian Larsson, Associate Senior Lecturer at the Department of War Studies, Swedish Defence University.

Academic elements to strengthen the position of the officer profession

In the basic officer education in Sweden, academic elements have been introduced in different periods to raise the status of the officer corps and strengthen its legitimacy.

"The academisation during the 1990s and 2000s, when the Officer Program was integrated into the university world, is really just the latest example of historical educational reforms where the state attempted to educate "war academics"," says Sebastian Larsson.

Similar processes were also conducted in the mid-19th century, in connection with the founding of the war school, when the state wanted to raise the status of the officer profession in society by introducing more academic elements in the training.

"Over time, we can see how the academy has been used instrumentally by political and military elites in this way, often to protect or strengthen the officer corps's position in society", says Sebastian Larsson.

Clear tensions between academic and military tradition over a long time

He has himself contemplated why cadets are now educated at universities, despite the officer profession being markedly different from other professions in society.

"With this as a starting point, I began a historical tracing of Sweden's officer training system, and it quickly became clear that I needed to go much further back in time than the recent decades' academization processes."

The tension between the academic and military parts of the training has characterized the officer training since its first decades at the beginning of the 19th century, not least in terms of the view on theoretical and practical knowledge.

Historical and sociological perspectives

"The article lays a historical foundation for upcoming studies within a project that is aimed at the contemporary challenges facing the academised officer training system in Sweden, in times of NATO membership, military build-up, and growth within the Swedish Armed Forces", says Sebastian Larsson.

The study is also a contribution to the growing military-sociological research on military education within the field professional military education (PME).

"Research on officer education, especially from critical and sociological perspectives, is central to our understanding of the relationships between military professional practice, expert knowledge, and legitimacy, as well as between defense and society at large", says Sebastian Larsson.

The article is a historical-sociological investigation based on archival material that illuminates the purpose and structure of officer training over the years, such as public policy documents, inquiry reports, and debating texts.

"Theoretically, I have viewed officer training as a dimension of what the German sociologist Norbert Elias called the "civilizing process," that is, the historical process that over time transformed the warrior class into a modern profession incorporated into the state apparatus", says Sebastian Larsson.

He has also conducted a field analysis inspired by the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, focusing on the historical phases where academic capital was introduced and played a particularly important role in structuring the officer field.

Josefin Svensson