Research project The return and reimagination of military conscription in Europe
The project studies the return and potential effects of military conscription through a qualitative comparison of how the institution has been envisioned and legitimated by political and military officials in four European countries.
By studying countries where different draft systems have been defended, expanded and reactivated in the 2010s, the project demonstrates how conscription can form part of and strengthen essentially different political projects, liberal as well as conservative. While the return and expansion of conscription for men and women in Sweden and Norway have been described as a military necessity, but also a progressive policy move forwarding gender-equality; proponents of retaining and reintroducing conscription in Austria and Germany have rather motivated conscription as a way of preserving national community and traditional gender roles. The project thus demonstrates how the institution of conscription constantly is reimagined in ways that promotes different images of nation, citizenship and gender.
Project members
Project managers
Sanna Strand
Forskare
