The Democratic Costs of Militarization: Material and Discursive Implications for the Swedish Peace Movement : A qualitative case study of Swedish militarization and civil society

Sweden is undergoing significant military rearmament following Russia’s war in Ukraine. Simultaneously, voices from the Swedish peace movement have raised concerns about the withdrawal of financial resources and marginalization in public debate. Research on the relationship between the military and domestic democracy remains limited, particularly in Western contexts such as Sweden, and is even rarer in examining militarization’s consequences for civil society. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the discursive construction of militarization since February 2022 and to explore its implications for seven organizations representing the Swedish peace movement. By adopting a Hajerian argumentative discourse analysis, the thesis examines discourses beyond their underlying meaning, as well as the practices and key actors that uphold them, enabling an analysis of how these discourses affect the peace movement in practice. Semi-structured interviews with the seven organizations indicate an apparent democratic decline, reflected in deteriorating material and discursive conditions. The thesis concludes that, for most organizations, the ability to engage in political advocacy, participate in public debate, and influence political decision-making has been significantly constrained by the domestic militarization following Russia’s war on Ukraine.