In this thesis, I explore everyday militarisation in UN peace operations by studying how Sweden's s 'peace nation' narrative is possibly militarised by participating in the robust peacekeeping operation in Mali. The aim is to increase understanding around how militarisation occurs in modern peace operations, domains that are meant to be peaceful but are becoming increasingly war-like. The Swedish narrative is generated through interviews with Swedish peacekeepers that have previously been deployed to Mali and through readings of the Swedish Armed Forces blog Malibloggen. The material is analysed through a narrative analysis inspired by Mieke Bal (2009). I find that the Swedish narrative is partly militarised during participation in the mission, as it can be argued that Sweden arranged its sense of belonging around military values and chose military modes of conflict resolution over civilian to some extent. The soldiers were also cognitively preparing for war and military measures were partially normalised. This result illustrates that when countries that regard themselves as 'peace nations' take part in militarised UN PSOs, their narrative can become militarised to some extent as they arrange their sense of belonging around values of war and military force. This, in turn, has implications for the spread of militarisation across the globe, potentially leading to a lower threshold of war.

Social media analysis, in feminist critical military studies, is a highly underrepresented field. Although, the world is evolving faster than ever and, within the digitalised world, different methods of representation are used to (re-)produce ideologies, signify meanings, and interpellate individuals accordingly. Militaries are making use of social media accounts as representational tools to justify their informal and formal structures. Nonetheless, these organisations are challenged to become more inclusive, more democratic, and more diverse. The Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces) is considered a highly heteronormative, masculine connotated, white organisation and is in the midst of transformation, too. On social media, the Bundeswehr tends to represent itself as a more inclusive, tolerant, and diverse organisation. Nonetheless, the public eyes are watching and valuing the reaction of this highly symbolic organisation when their heteronormative settings are under pressure. Opinions are shared, communities are formed, voices are being raised and simultaneously silenced. Thus, questions emerge, such as how are glimpses of inclusivity regarding gender norms and gender relations (re-)presented on the Bundeswehr’s Facebook account? How does the public engage with the posts? Who is included? Who remains hidden? Therefore, I have developed a case study in which I shall employ a mix of the methods and apply an intersectional lens to analyse glimpses of inclusivity on the Bundeswehr’s Facebook account. I argue glimpses of inclusivity have to be analysed from two perspectives. The Bundeswehr’s perspective needs to be analysed in relation to how they represent glimpses of inclusivity and how they negotiate possible tensions of inclusivity. At the same time, engagements with the posts by users in relation to glimpses of inclusivity and tensions of inclusivity are crucial to analyse, too.

Sweden’s role internationally is often cited as a paradox which is argued to have its origin in the opposition between the state’s international humanitarianism and its large arms export. The tension here has often been examined from the perspectives of militarization in research on the subject. This thesis instead argued that a comprehensive understanding of peace is needed to analyze the paradox holistically. By semiotically engaging with the Swedish Government's annual reports on arms export control, this thesis could identify the construction of peace within the arms export during the years 2014-2021. A usage of the combined perspectives of pacifization, militarization and an in-depth review of the peace concept, allowed for a comprehensive understanding of peace within these discourses. The thesis discovered that elements of the Swedish arms export were framed as (1) a precondition for peace, (2) an agreement of peace, and (3) an enhancement of peace. Moreover, the material revealed the juxtaposition of two different versions of peace, one liberal and one emancipatory understanding. As these versions are associated with different values and practices of peace, their coexistence in Swedish arms export is argued to be the heart of Sweden’s foreign policy paradox.