Making the Invisible Visible : Experiences of Women’s Voluntary Participation in Sweden’s Total Defence

This study analyses how members of the Swedish Women’s Voluntary Defence Organisation (Svenska Lottakåren) make sense of their participation in Sweden’s total defence. Drawing on ten semi-structured interviews, it explores how their narratives reproduce, negotiate, or challenge gendered ideas of preparedness, security, and citizenship. An abductive analytical approach is applied, combining feminist theory with research on total defence while allowing new perspectives to emerge from the empirical material. The analysis reveals that the perspective of men continues to be normalised within the Swedish defence sector, leaving gender-specific issues unaddressed unless actively raised by members of Svenska Lottakåren. Gender also intersects with identity categories such as ethnicity and religious background, resulting in uneven conditions for participation within the defence sector. Members point to widespread public uncertainty about what individual responsibility entails in times of crisis or war, alongside slow adaptation by authorities to increasing preparedness demands. Communication and planning are thus described as shortcomings in the translation of total defence policy into practice. Inclusion emerges as another shortcoming, particularly in socio-economically marginalised areas with high levels of migration, which are described as overlooked in total defence efforts. Members of Svenska Lottakåren articulate clear commitments and ambitions to address each of these shortcomings, framing their work as ongoing rather than complete. Although preparedness and security are challenged beyond traditional domains, gendered ideas of citizenship remain unevenly translated into inclusive practices within total defence.