Hans Lödén

Reaching a vanishing point? Reflections on the future of neutrality norms in Sweden and Finland:

This rejoinder article takes the contributions in the Special Issue of Cooperation and Conflict – Vol. 46(3) – on Neutrality and ‘Military Non-Alignment’ as point of departure for a discussion of some of the problems former neutrals face in shaping their foreign and security policies. The author argues that current and future developments regarding neutrality norms are dependent on internal factors such as national identity and public opinion, and on external factors such as the military non-aligned states’ relationships to EU, NATO and, not least, the UN. The possibility of a ‘Second Option’ of full-scale military cooperation if a preferred neutral position fails is discussed. Increased UN activism, for example, connected with the R2P concept and the tendency to outsource major UN-mandated military operations to NATO, is touched upon as well as the Libya crisis of 2011 and some of its implications for European foreign and security policy cooperation. Special attention is given to current Swedish debates on military non-alignment and NATO membership.

Peace, love, depoliticisation and the domestic alien: national identity in the memorial messages collected after the terror attacks in Norway 22 July 2011

The terror attacks in Norway in July 2011 led to massive popular mobilisation as particularly expressed in thousands of memory messages displayed at spontaneous memorial sites. This article is based on a review and analysis of all messages, collected in Oslo and in the area around Utøya Island, using the concepts ‘critical event’, ‘national identity dynamic’, ‘depoliticisation’ and ‘domestic alien’. Results show that the predominant theme in the messages of peace and compassion is partly made possible by subordinate themes of depoliticisation and of alienating the perpetrator from majority, national community, thus contributing to the ongoing construction of a Norwegian, national identity.

“It’s Difficult to be a Norwegian”:

Abstract The terror attacks in Norway 2011, targeting what the perpetrator described as proponents of immigration and multicultural society, created exceptional circumstances for people to reflect on issues of belonging. In this kind of situation, it is assumed that people emphasise their affinity with the affected country. This, in turn, makes the problematisation of the affinities displayed particularly interesting since the act of expressing them even in a very taxing situation indicates their importance. Texts by individuals from ethnic minorities, written soon after the attacks, are analysed in terms of conceptions of ‘Norwegianness’. Results show explicit support for civic values but also multiple expressions of not feeling recognised as part of majority society also from individuals obviously acculturated to Norwegian lifestyles and cultural codes. These expressions are explained in terms of whiteness – non-whiteness and religion.

Interpreting conflicting narratives: Young people’s recollections of the terrorist attacks in Norway 2011

In 2011, a Norwegian right-wing extremist killed 77 mostly young people in an attack on proponents of multiculturalism. A critical event of this magnitude is important in a nation’s collective memory. For young people’s political socialization and value orientation, it could be crucial. Adolescents’ memories and interpretations of terrorism are an understudied area. On the basis of different memory narratives among ethnic Norwegian adolescents, who were 13 or 14 in 2011, implications of the attacks, seen as a case of collective memory formation of terrorism, are discussed in terms of how young people remember and interpret the attacks and negotiate between competing narratives. Focus group interviews conducted in 2015–2016 with 18-year-olds showed a marked tension between support for democratic values and numerous references to individuals and organizations having critical views on immigration and diversity and the importance of active agents promoting the conflicting narratives.