Finnish Military Officer Identities and Micro-Political Resistance

Bibliographic Data

ID2341263
AuthorsSuvi Kouri (0000-0003-3578-096X, University of Jyväskylä, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume49
Issue1
Pages160-178
Publication date2023-01-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueArmed Forces & Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0095-327X • E-ISSN: 1556-0848
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0095327x211054116
OpenAlexW4200530101
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited23

Drawing on the concept of micro-political resistance, this article presents an empirical analysis of how officers of the Finnish Defence Forces challenge, resist, and reinforce the collective military identities constructed within the prevailing organizational discourses. There is a need for identity work to meet the norms and ideals of the military, but individuals can also work as change agents. Micro-political resistance derives from feelings of otherness as well as conflict between the dominant organizational identities and individuals' personal interests. This study presents a thematic discourse analysis based on texts written by 108 officers and 12 interviews on the theme of 'the ideal soldier.' Three main discourses of micro-political resistance were identified: perceiving the profession of a military officer as a job like any other rather than a sacred calling, putting family first, and being oneself instead of embodying the traditional masculine ideal soldier

Aesthetics · Feeling · Ideal (ethics · Identity (music · Officer · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Resistance (ecology · Sociology · Theme (computing · Gender Studies · Gender, Security, and Conflict · Historical Gender and Feminism Studies · Law · Military, Security, and Education Studies · Psychology · Social Psychology

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access