What will we eat? Food as security politics in Sweden 1900-2025
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After the Second World War and during the latter part of the 20th century, Sweden built up an extensive total defense, which included, among other things, preparedness to secure the food supply in the event of war. During the 1990s, in connection with the end of the Cold War and the entry into the EC(EU), when total defense and preparedness policy were reformed, the issue of food supply largely disappeared from the security policy agenda in Swedish politics. The overall question for this project is how the issue of food supply becomes included in, or disappears from, the national defense- and security policy agenda.
Details
- Period: 2024-01-01 – 2027-12-31
- Budget: 5,914,000 SEK
- Funder: Swedish Research Council
Description
This question is important because in recent times, a series of crises, such as the pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, have contributed to placing the question of food security back on the agenda. In addition, the question of food security is extremely relevant in a global perspective, as climate change both changes the conditions for food production around the world and increases the risk of conflicts over existing resources. It is therefore particularly important that we as researchers try to understand why and in what way questions about food become linked to security policy. At its core, this concerns the question of what responsibility state has and should have when it comes to securing its citizens’ access to food in times of crisis and war, but also about how different values - such as sustainability, security and international competitiveness – becomes associated with our food supply, says principal investigator Johanna Pettersson Fürst.
By studying how the issue has been discussed over time and by different political actors, the processes through which the issue of food is included or excluded from the security policy agenda are examined. The project carries out a comprehensive historical comparative study of how, when and by whom the issue of food safety has been securitized (that is, came to be understood and handled as a security issue) and de-securitized (that is, disappeared from the security policy agenda) in Swedish politics between 1900- 2025. Using new methods for analyzing large text materials, we study how the issue of food safety has been dealt with in the Swedish Riksdag. The project also analyzes two periods more in-depth: the period around the time of the end of the Cold War and Sweden's entry into the EC/EU, when the issue disappeared from the security policy agenda, and the current period when the food supply has once again come to be treated as a security problem in Swedish politics. Not least, the project contributes to the study of how a political issue – here food supply – disappears from the security policy agenda, which has been largely neglected by previous research, which mainly focuses on the process where something becomes a security problem.