Fredsengagemang i en osäker tid: En studie av hur svenska fredsaktivister navigerat sitt fredsengagemang sedan Rysslands fullskaliga invasion av Ukraina

Abstract

This case study examines how individuals involved in the Swedish peace movement have navigated their peace activism due to the intensified security debate which followed Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. By conducting semi-structured interviews with peace activists involved in the Swedish peace organization Svenska freds- och Skiljedomsföreningen, the study aims to provide insight into how peace activists, and the peace movement as a whole, can be affected when the security debate intensifies. By applying a theoretical framework consisting of Political Process Theory (PPT) and Discursive Opportunity Structure (DOS), as well as previous studies and literature on social movement organizations and peace movements, the study’s objective is also to apply context to the observations made by the peace activists in the study. By applying context, we can better understand how peace activists are affected by political and discursive opportunities in regards to their activism. The results of this study show that during intensified security debates, peace activists may critically reflect on their activism, anti-democratic tendencies in society, and the duality of how the peace movement tends to grow and mobilize in turbulent times. Furthermore, the results show that peace activists and the peace movement are significantly affected by the openness- and closedness of discursive and political opportunities in regards to how they navigate their peace activism. However, discursive opportunities tend to be of particular importance in regards to how the peace movement and peace activists navigate and reflect on their activism.