Abstract
Drawing on the concept of micro-political resistance, this article presents an empirical analysis of how officers of the Finnish Defence Forces challenge, resist, and reinforce the collective military identities constructed within the prevailing organizational discourses. There is a need for identity work to meet the norms and ideals of the military, but individuals can also work as change agents. Micro-political resistance derives from feelings of otherness as well as conflict between the dominant organizational identities and individuals’ personal interests. This study presents a thematic discourse analysis based on texts written by 108 officers and 12 interviews on the theme of “the ideal soldier.” Three main discourses of micro-political resistance were identified: perceiving the profession of a military officer as a job like any other rather than a sacred calling, putting family first, and being oneself instead of embodying the traditional masculine ideal soldier.
Highlights
According to Moskos et al (2000), one of the features of what social theorists refer to as the postmodern age is a decreasing consensus about what the public good might be and what values it entails
This study provides insight into the ways in which military officers of the Finnish Defence Forces (FDF) contest organizational identities constructed within the prevailing discourses
This study aims to contribute to the understanding of how power, subjectivity, and agency are negotiated within the rigid framework of a military institution and how individual identities may further the process of change within an organizational culture
Summary
According to Moskos et al (2000), one of the features of what social theorists refer to as the postmodern age is a decreasing consensus about what the public good might be and what values it entails. The concept of micro-political resistance (Davies & Thomas, 2004) is employed to examine discursive forms of resistance, that is, resistance at the level of identities and meanings, as Thomas et al (2004) phrase it. Prevailing discourses refer to the social power and control practiced by an organization over the actions and minds of its members (van Dijk, 1996). The concept of micro-political resistance can be defined as subtle forms of disruption in an organizational setting. This derives from feelings of difference and otherness and conflict between the dominant organizational identities and individuals’ personal interests (van Dijk, 1996)
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