Peacekeeping masculinities, intersectionality, and gender equality – negotiations of military life and civilian life by Danish soldier/veteran-parents

ABSTRACT

Combining the work of peacekeeping and parenting can lead to dilemmas in the work/life balance of individual soldier/parents. Simultaneously, ideals of ‘peacekeeping masculinities’ can potentially be used in struggles for gender equality in peacekeeping. Our aim is to discuss whether and how ‘peacekeeping masculinities’ is a useful concept and tool to increase our thinking on what it means to be both a ‘good soldier’ and a ‘good parent’. We ask two questions: (1) (How) can the notion of ‘peacekeeping masculinities’ help us analyse the relations between bodies and binaries in peacekeeping and parenting? (2) (How) can an intersectional approach to ‘peacekeeping masculinities’ help us analyse dilemmas in gendered negotiations between peacekeeping and parenting? We argue that peacekeeping masculinities and intersectionality often are used as buzzwords instead of directly related to clearly identified struggles for gender equality. This provides limits to their usefulness. Since military life and civilian life are both separate and related fields, it is useful to combine a focus on peacekeeping and parenting to make better use of the notion of peacekeeping masculinities. We illustrate the argument with interviews with male and female soldier/veteran-parents from the Royal Danish Air Force (RDAF), who have been on international peacekeeping missions.

KEYWORDS:

• Identity
• intersectionality
• military masculinities
• military work
• peacekeeping masculinities
• parenting

Acknowledgements

The interviews that inform this paper were part of a broader study. Informed consent was obtained from the participants. All names and other identifying features were removed from the research material and pseudonyms have been used. Translations of the anonymous original Danish transcripts can be obtained upon request.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kathrine Bjerg Bennike

Kathrine Bjerg Bennike holds a PhD from Aalborg University, Denmark within the field of gender and military studies. Kathrine has a MS in Development and International Relations from Aalborg University. She has been a visiting PhD fellow at the Colleges of the Fenway, Boston, USA. From 2016-2020, Kathrine was an editor for the Danish journal Women, Gender, and Research. With a background in the fields of Feminist IR and Critical Military Studies, Kathrine’s research interests mainly centers on gender, the armed forces, military masculinities, intersectionality, conflict, peacekeeping/peacebuilding issues. Currently, Kathrine works as an academic employee at Aalborg University Library.

Pauline Stoltz

Pauline Stoltz is associate professor at the Freia Center for Gender Research, the Department of Politics and Society, Aalborg University, Denmark. Between 2013 and 2015, she was Chief Editor of Nora – Nordic Journal of Feminist and Gender Research. Currently, she is Editor of the Gendering Asia book series (NIAS Press). Recent publications include Gender, resistance and transnational memories of violent conflicts (2020, Palgrave Macmillan) and Feminisms in the Nordic region: Neoliberalism, Nationalism and Decolonial Critique (eds. Keskinen, Stoltz & Mulinari, 2020, Palgrave Macmillan). Research interests include intersectionality, masculinities, transitional justice, transnational memory politics, postcolonialism, and social movement activism.