<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>While studying citizen-soldiers, their dual identity as a soldier and a civilian have been highlighted. A citizen-soldier’s role is linked to citizenship and its obligation. The dual identity or critical voices of conscription or reserve forces have neither been recognized in research nor been debated publicly in Finland. The aim of this article is to analyse the reasons why some conscripts raise critical voices concerning their relationship with conscription and their role as reservists. The study is based on the interviews of 38 non-military service men and 33 men who resigned from the reserve in 2017. The data was analysed using content analysis. According to the results, the main problems with regard to conscription and armed defence, among the conscripts, relate to inequality of the conscription system, obligation to serve and lack of discretion. For individual conscripts as citizen-soldiers, the problem of killing has special weight when they reflect upon their own role in the possible act of war. Conscripts and their expertise could be used more extensively in a wider range of security-related issues than in armed defence alone.</p></abstract>

While studying citizen-soldiers, their dual identity as a soldier and a civilian have been highlighted. A citizen-soldier’s role is linked to citizenship and its obligation. The dual identity or critical voices of conscription or reserve forces have neither been recognized in research nor been debated publicly in Finland. The aim of this article is to analyse the reasons why some conscripts raise critical voices concerning their relationship with conscription and their role as reservists. The study is based on the interviews of 38 non-military service men and 33 men who resigned from the reserve in 2017. The data was analysed using content analysis. According to the results, the main problems with regard to conscription and armed defence, among the conscripts, relate to inequality of the conscription system, obligation to serve and lack of discretion. For individual conscripts as citizen-soldiers, the problem of killing has special weight when they reflect upon their own role in the possible act of war. Conscripts and their expertise could be used more extensively in a wider range of security-related issues than in armed defence alone.

Saying no to military service – obligation, killing and inequality as experienced problems in conscription-based military in Finland

Journal of Military Studies

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

While studying citizen-soldiers, their dual identity as a soldier and a civilian have been highlighted. A citizen-soldier’s role is linked to citizenship and...

Saying no to military service – obligation, killing and inequality as experienced problems in conscription-based military in Finland

Article Category: Research Article

Published Online: Dec 31, 2019

Page range: 46 - 57

Received: Sep 03, 2018

Accepted: Mar 28, 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jms-2019-0005

Keywords
citizenship, conscription, conscript service, citizen-soldier, non-military service, comprehensive security

© 2019 Kosonen et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Saying no to military service – obligation, killing and inequality as experienced problems in conscription-based military in Finland

Article Category: Research Article

Published Online: Dec 31, 2019

Page range: 46 - 57

Received: Sep 03, 2018

Accepted: Mar 28, 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jms-2019-0005

Keywordscitizenship, conscription, conscript service, citizen-soldier, non-military service, comprehensive security

© 2019 Kosonen et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
citizenship, conscription, conscript service, citizen-soldier, non-military service, comprehensive security