Securitization of Swedish development aid? A comparative discourse analysis of Swedish aid policy frameworks from 2016 and 2023

Sammanfattning

There is a growing perception that security objectives are gaining currency in the aid discourse. At the same time, the international environment is shaped by insecurity, and several major donor countries have signaled retrenchments in their development assistance. This intensifies the debate about what aid is for and what discursive rationales shape aid policy. Sweden has a long-standing tradition of being a generous donor grounded in humanitarian and solidarity principles but have during the last years undergone a reorientation of their aid policy, characterized by reductions and an increased focus on Swedish interests. Despite the growing literature around securitization of aid, little is known about whether Sweden follows this observed trend. This paper explores this gap by analyzing two Swedish aid policy frameworks from 2016 and 2023. By adopting a comparative discourse analysis with selected questions from Bacchi’s (2009) What’s the problem represented to be (WPR) approach, combined with specific inquiries from securitization theory and the construction of an ideal type, this paper finds empirical evidence of an increase in securitization discourse in the 2023 framework, compared to in 2016. This is manifested primarily in an increase of the justification of aid being served as a tool to protect Swedish interests and the construction of conflicts and migration as risks directed towards Sweden and Europe. The findings suggest that even a case like Sweden has undergone an increase in securitization of aid discourse, aligning with previous findings suggesting that it risks undermining development objectives.