Reykjavík Grapevine - 24.08.2007, Side 4

06_REYKJAVÍK_GRAPEVINE_ISSUE 13_007_INTERVIEW/ANTHROPOLOGY
Helga Björnsdóttir is working on her PhD thesis
in Anthropology from the University of Iceland.
Her research has been focused on ideas of mas-
culinity and spaces where those ideas are exist.
A large part of her study has been devoted
on peacekeeping in relation to masculinity.
She recently gave a lecture at the University
of Iceland where she presented a somewhat
different image of Icelandic peacekeeping from
what is usually presented in Icelandic media. A
Grapevine journalist sat down with Björnsdót-
tir at her home to ask a few questions about
peacekeeping in general, ideas of masculinity
and the role of Icelandic peacekeepers.
Maybe you could start by telling me a
little about why you started to research
Icelandic peacekeepers?
Well, at first it was not supposed to focus on
the Icelandic Crisis Response Unit, I was going
to research ideas of masculinity, not peacekeep-
ers, except as a special space around these
ideas. But gradually the focus has turned to
peacekeeping per se and to the ICRU as a part
of a bigger context. It is impossible to let it be to
talk about that, so it has become a big part of
my research. Of course, ideas of masculinities
exist within certain context and space and this
space in particular forms certain ideas.
In your lecture, you talked about how
peacekeeping is always defined as a man’s
job. Is that the case?
Yes, it usually is. Peacekeeping is usually re-
ferred to as some kind of a military operation.
When you are working in peacekeeping, you
are always working around some sort of con-
flict or war; this is pretty obvious, war – peace.
Therefore, peacekeeping is usually defined in
relation to military and military development.
Traditional peacekeeping is very male oriented.
Six out of every seven peacekeepers are sol-
diers, and soldiers generally tend to be men.
Although women have been forcing their way
into militaries around the world, it is still a very
small portion of the whole. In the British army
for example, although it has made an effort
to increase the numer of women anttending
and working in the Army and advertising it as
job for everyone, certain jobs are still reserved
for men only.
You have talked to many members of the
Icelandic Crisis Unit; do you have any idea
what it is that attracts them to this job?
I think that the Icelanders volunteer for this job
really want to go there to be a part of a recon-
struction project. One peacekeeper told me
that there are two kinds of people who go into
peacekeeping. On one hand, there are people
who want to carry arms and be gunhappy; on
the other hand, there are people who want to
be a part of some sort of a reconstruction. That
is the majority of the Icelandic peacekeepers.
When the ICRU was first formed, a register
of 200 names was put together, a response
list of available volunteers. But as it happens,
that list is seldom used. In reality it is the de-
mand from NATO that decides who goes. If
NATO needs technicians or ambulance men
to put together a team, they call and ask to
see if the ICRU can put together a team. But,
the Icelanders want to go there to help. But
of course, it is also exciting. This is an exotic
environment and a great experience. And as
they say themselves, this is a bank of experience
that they can always go back to.
Are they generally positive about their
experience?
Yes, most of them are, because they have ex-
perienced so much that they would never have
an opportunity to do otherwise. For example
travel, you usually cannot just travel around
Afghanistan, but many of the Icelandic peace-
keepers who have been there have travelled a
lot. They have seen a lot and done a lot that
most people don’t have a chance to see or do.
They are very positive towards that experience
and to the idea of peacekeeping itself.
What has their job mainly be?
That varies. In Kosovo, a team of flight traffic
controllers and firefighters built up the airport
and the airport fire brigade. Then there are
people working with the UNIFEM; then there
is a media liaison officer in Iraq; there are
people in Kabul airport, working on building
the infrastructure of the airport there, there
were air traffic controllers there, fire fighters,
and engineers. Then they have been a part of
Provincial Reconstruction Teams in Afghanistan,
and in Sri Lanka they partaking in the Sri Lanka
Monitoring Mission and supplied doctors and
medical staff with a Norwegian outfits. There
is more info on this on the Ministry for For-
eign Affairs, [http://www.utanrikisraduneyti.
is/utanrikismal/fridargaesla]
Judging from the media coverage of the
Icelandic peacekeepers, you sometimes
get the feeling that everyone is playing
soldier.
Well it is. That goes with out saying.
But the way you have described this, it
sounds more like men who want to par-
take in reconstruction efforts.
I said they wanted to take part in a reconstruc-
tion. And they do. But that does not mean they
are always compleately content with what they
are doing.. Once you enter a space where there
is a military infrastructure, you become a part
of it. And peacekeeping is such an undefined
area really. Peacekeeping is often discussed in
relation to politics, how can we improve the
situation. But when you reach the question
how we can keep the peace through arms…
what kind of message are we sending when
the peace is kept through arms?
You mentioned that many peacekeepers
are soldiers.
Yes, that is true.
Are they retired soldiers?
No, peacekeeping is just another form of using
the military. Many nations use their military
for peacekeeping. The United Nations has a
peacekeeping force, The United Nations have
a peacekeeping force and so does ISAF. When
you have a large military, you need something
for it to do. You can’t just go off to war anytime
you please, so you need operations to maintain
and train the military. Some people claim that
peacekeeping is just a training ground for for-
eign militaries, while others claim that this is a
good use of a military force. Here we have all
this equipment and all this know-how… you
know, lets put it to use. Soldiers are always
deployed to react against natural disasters for
example. This is very similar in many ways.
So is peacekeeping a political decision in
order to maintain a military?
No, that’s not really how it is. But this can
be good opportunity for a military to main-
tain itself, train people and to create a new
identity. For example when the Dutch Army
became an all-volunteer force in 1996, it has
focused mainly on peacekeeping missions.
Also, wars in the world have changed. There
are no longer wars between countries, most
wars are interstate conflicts. And peacekeeping
is always moving more towards reconstruction
efforts and humanitarian aid. This is mixed
in with the military part. The ICRU is sort of
rocking there in between. Of course, it is not a
military outfit, and they are not allowed to do
anything except for self-defence, so they are
focused on reconstruction work. That’s what
they mostly do, and, they are pretty good at it.
The Icelandic peacekeepers are a little special.
For one thing, most of them are older than the
average soilder who works as a peacekeeper,
and they are not trained as soldiers, and they
are very hard working, they work fast and
they do it well. When something needs to be
done, they simply do it, without necessarily
going through the proper channels because
they don’t have this military background, but
they know how to get the job done.
But do they fit in then?
Yes, I think they are well received and are con-
sidered to have done excellent work. Of course,
they don’t fit into the military structure. It is
easy to put Icelandic peacekeepers in a military
uniform, but that does not mean the uniform
will fit, metaphoically speaking. I think that we
need to decide what we want to do with the
ICRU. There are so many jobs that Icelanders
know and could do so well that would fit them
a lot better than the military side of it.
Peacekeeping and Ideas of Masculinity
Text by Sveinn Birkir Björnsson Photo by Gulli
“Peacekeeping is usu-
ally defined in relation
to military and military
development. Traditional
peacekeeping is very male
oriented. Six out of every
seven peacekeepers are
soldiers, and soldiers gen-
erally tend to be men.”
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