The aim of this study is to examine the ideal of citizenship as presented in the Swedish Girl Scout movement 1945-1965. Through the examination of periodicals aimed at Girl Scout leaders, the study attempts to elucidate how the presented ideals shifted in the years leading up to, and following, the merger between the largest Swedish Girl Scout and Boy Scout associations in 1960. As a theoretical background, the model of the Belgian scout researcher Sophie Wittemans is used, according to which citizenship in the scout movement contains both a universalistic tendency, emphasizing and geared towards creating citizens that are equal in an abstract sense, as well as particularizing instruments that aim to mold the singular individual. Wittemans claims that the Girl Scout movement has generally focused on the later aspect. The concept of citizenship is found to be linked to duty rather than to the freedom of the individual, especially in the sphere of home life. In professional life the individual is afforded a greater measure of freedom. At the time of the merger in 1960, the idea of citizenship is to some extent gendered. The Girl Scout is to be prepared to take part in a society where feminine and masculine values are both needed. There is no consensus, however, on what the difference between the sexes consists of. Neither sex, nor citizenship, seems to be the main focus of the training of Girl Scouts during the studied period. The cultural and societal tensions are contained by religion, universalizing tools like the scout law, and concepts such as ‘humanity’. Through the study of a relatively scarcely researched area, this study attempts to shed light upon the Swedish Girl Scout movement in the post-war-era, as well as the larger shift in gender roles in Swedish society during the same period.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:su-158672 |
| Date | January 2015 |
| Creators | Ljunggren, Mattias |
| Publisher | Stockholms universitet, Institutionen för kultur och estetik |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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