I nationens intresse - operation
jämställdhet- genuint engagemang eller projicerad legitimitet - En fallstudie på den Svenska Försvarsmakten
The Swedish Armed Forces is a public institution and consequently obliged to follow Swedish and international legislation. Thus, they are subjected to contrarious demands from different actors operating in its high-technological and high-institutional environment: to be a legitimate institution and at the same time operate with a high level of efficiency. This thesis is conducted with the aim of investigating whether The Swedish Armed Forces' steering document for gender equality is used to achieve visible and quantifiable results or if the document constitute a medium for reverberating legitimacy. To answer the research question, we applied a critical discourse analysis on the relevant documents and on the conducted semi-constructed interviews with members from different levels and positions in the organizational hierarchy. Subsequently, we came to the conclusion that the Swedish Armed Forces manage the demands for efficiency and legitimacy, which are forced upon them from the technological and institutional environment, by talking about them. Such "talk" is expressed in the steering document through vagueness, incongruence and immeasurable actions. Consequently, the Swedish Armed Forces utilize organized hypocrisy which is a strategy adopted by organizations which are subjected to contrarious demands. This means that they do not implement all the guidelines expressed in the steering document, but rather use them to reverberate legitimacy.