From Obligatory to Optional: Thirty Years of Civil–Military Entanglements in Norway

This chapter analyzes the changing nature of civil–military entanglements in Norway. The starting point for the analysis are the claims made in the introductory chapter of this book: that all countries discussed in this volume have embarked on a process that implies some degree of militarization, and that we are witnessing a “deeper” and “subtler” penetration of “things military” into peoples’ ordinary lives. In order to critically examine these claims in a Norwegian context, we argue first that today’s expressions of “things military” must be seen in a larger historical context if we are to assess whether entanglements have