Meet us in the Battlefield Sand to Maintain our Democracy : Militarized masculinities among veteran elites in post-war Namibia

Abstract: Gender awareness has been recognized as critical in sustainable peace efforts, and gender mainstreaming has become a natural practice in peace projects. While gender has long been equated with focus on women, the inclusion of men has increased. The concept of militarized masculinity has gained recognition, where exposure to the military institution is believed to foster certain gendered norms. The construction of these militarized masculinities has been a prominent focus in previous research, where capability of violence is apparent, and they are often found to undermine sustainable peace efforts. Less attention has been given to how these norms endure outside of the military institution. This thesis seeks to explore this question by studying five Namibian veterans who after the independence war moved on to become prominent politicians, which is argued to provide a least likely case for norm change. Through a qualitative content analysis, the veterans are studied during their entire time in the Namibian parliament. The study finds that the masculinity norms of the veterans developed and adapted to peace time, but still remained militarized. A new ideal type of militarized masculinity is formulated based on the findings, the Nation Protector, where leadership, bravery and patriotism are central, together with ideas of gender equality and peace. The study thus provide evidence that militarized masculinities may change outside of the military institution, but that this change is slow.