What makes a soldier? Queering inside/outside binaries in the Swedish Armed Forces

The dissertation project explores the formal and informal gender integration mechanisms and strategies in the Swedish Armed Forces (SAF), including the protection of LGBTQIA+ rights. 

The Swedish Armed Forces has long communicated that the contemporary organization is inclusive and striving for diversity, but there is a lack of empirical studies that examine individuals day-to-day experiences once policy and formal mechanisms are put in place.

Drawing from feminist scholarship on state armed forces and queer theory, the project analyzes which implications this work (and the strategic communication around it) has on gender relations and norms in the organization today.