Kvinnans osynliga front: civilt arbete som politiskt verktyg : Svenska kvinnliga rösträttsaktivisters retorik i kampen för rösträtt under första världskriget

It is widely accepted that a democratic society presupposes universal full political citizenship with the right to vote for all its inhabitants. Historically, however, this has not been the case. Until the early twentieth century, women in many parts of the world were excluded from political citizenship, which was largely legitimised through its association with traditionally male-coded duties such as military service and national defence. This essay examines how the Swedish women's suffrage movement during the First World War sought to challenge and renegotiate these gendered boundaries of citizenship. By analysing articles published in the journal Rösträtt för kvinnor between 1914-1918, the study investigates how Swedish women's civil contributions during wartime were articulated as politically relevant forms of national service. Particular attention is paid to how concepts such as defence, duty and responsibility were broadened beyond the military sphere to include family care work, social responsibility and societal maintenance. The findings demonstrate that the First World War functioned as a crucial context in which women's experiences and societal contributions were mobilised to expose the inconsistencies of an exclusionary political system. By framing women's civil labour as essential to the nation's survival, suffrage activists argued that women already fulfilled the obligations historically used to justify political rights. The study concludes that the struggle for women's suffrage during the war was not solely about voting rights, but about a broader redefinition of political citizenship, in which defence, citizenship and national duty were reconceptualised.