"We don't see Gender, only Soldiers": Negotiating Military Identities in Narratives on Gender, Peace, and Security

This dissertation examines how military personnel in the Royal Danish Air Force perceive, construct, and negotiate their military identities, and how this process is gendered. The study brings attention to contextual settings; that is how space, place, and time influence the experiences, constructions, and negotiations of gendered military identities among military personnel. Thus, how soldiers understand and relate to their work when they are home in Denmark, and when they are deployed on international peacekeeping and peacebuilding missions. The theoretical framework is situated between feminist international relations theories and critical military studies. The primary data consists of 24 interviews, which I conducted at two local Air bases with men and women serving in military positions in the Royal Danish Air Force. I approach the interviews through a narrative analysis to unfold individual soldier stories on gender, peace, and security. In addition, I examine institutional narratives by use of reports, conventions, national action plans, and recruitment material. The study will increase our understanding of how military personnel in the Royal Danish Air Force work domestically and internationally, and how military personnel perceive their roles as soldiers. Moreover, the dissertation will elucidate the relevance of including a gender perspective in unfolding the complexities of forming and negotiating military identities.