Training cooperative citizens: masculinity and democratic citizenship in the Swedish Boy Scout Movement after 1945

Abstract

This article discusses the reconfiguration of citizenship education in the Swedish Boy Scout movement, one of the country’s largest civil society organizations, after 1945. Citizenship education was a core feature of scouting since its establishment during the first decades of the twentieth century, with patriotism and practical helpfulness as core tenets. Additionally, an emphasis on hiking and camping sought to train Scouts to become self-reliant and self-regulatory members of society. After 1945, several former Scout virtues, such as honour, self-sacrifice and bravery, became increasingly associated with authoritarian values and were thus challenged by democratic, individualist ideals. By the 1950s, differences between Boy Scouting and Girl Scouting became less apparent, and explicitly masculine ideals were rejected by leading figures of the Boy Scout movement. The reconfiguration of citizenship education contributed to gender integration and co-educational reform that reshaped the Scout movement in Sweden during the 1950s and 1960s.