As in many other countries, Swedish defense during the Cold War was primarily organized around the perceived threat of war, including the potential use of nuclear weapons. This article shifts attention from such scenarios to the ways in which civil contingencies and natural disasters were conceptualized as knowledge objects within the emerging field of defense and disaster medicine. Their incorporation into Sweden’s preparedness agenda signaled a broader and more multifaceted understanding of protection and security within the scientific advisory system of the Swedish defense. By centering medical knowledge production on these hazards, the article offers new insights into the role of medical expertise in Swedish preparedness, while simultaneously shifting focus away from a war-centered narrative of Cold War defense investments. The empirical exploration spans the period from the late 1950s, when a comprehensive governmental inquiry into Swedish defense medicine led to the establishment of the Delegation for Applied Medical Defense Research [Försvarsmedicinska forskningsdelegationen] and subsequently the Organizing Committee for Disaster Medicine [Katastrofmedicinska organisationskommittén] (Kamedo) in the first half of the 1960s. The study concludes in the mid-1970s, when the Delegation was incorporated into the Swedish Defense Research Establishment [Försvarets forskningsanstalt] (FOA).

The political tensions of the Cold War influenced both sport and science. There is a long-standing tradition within both liberal democracies and authoritarian regimes of emphasizing the purportedly positive connections between sport, training, and military capability. The Swedish total defense is an interesting case in this context, given its social and political significance, the links between the military and sport, and the extensive investments in scientific research. However, the application of sport and training science in Swedish defense research has remained largely unexplored. This article examines the use of sport psychology in the Swedish Armed Forces, with particular attention to the “psychologization” of Swedish fighter pilots in the late 1970s. It analyzes the discussions surrounding, as well as attempts to apply, knowledge of mental training—including relaxation, meditation, and hypnosis—to enhance pilots’ training and performance. The article centers on the Swedish Defense Research Establishment (FOA) and the Division of Human Sciences, where Lars-Eric Uneståhl’s methods were debated and implemented.

This chapter explores knowledge associated with the humanities that has been developed in practice-oriented research domains of the Swedish government to help solve societal challenges. I study the Swedish National Defense Research Establishment [Försvarets forskningsanstalt] (FOA). The concept of “borderline humanities” refers to research activities that did not abide by academic distinctions between the humanities, the social sciences, and the natural sciences. The study shows how knowledge on human culture, history, language, and beliefs developed in a research environment that drew on diverse fields of both research and practice. The chapter brings to the fore shared themes and concepts between different research fields and draws attention to how this affects the view of research impact.

Total defence was a cornerstone of Sweden’s defence policy during the Cold War, and conscription formed a key pillar of this strategy. Military service was mandatory for men, and the principle of placing ‘the right man in the right place’ required extensive efforts to assess individual suitability for various roles. At the Swedish Defence Research Establishment [Försvarets forskningsanstalt] (FOA), and particularly within its division for human sciences, sports research was employed in the 1970s to inform debates on recruitment by evaluating the physical capacities of women and men over the age of 47. These studies demonstrated that older men retained physical abilities longer than previously assumed and that women met established military standards, thereby revealing untapped potential within the population. Sports research was thus reframed as a strategic resource for national defence, illustrating its adaptability and political significance beyond civilian sport and training, serving as a tool for advancing military capability and realizing defence objectives.

In several parts of Sweden, difficulties arise regarding access to water. In this article, I explore the biopoliticsthat take shape when low groundwater levels are turned into an object of government. Firstly, I examinethe formation of a so-called anatomical politics which refers to a disciplining form of power in which theresponsibilities and actions of the population are at the center. Secondly, I explore the priorities that are madein the political work where human life, health, and well-being are to be protected and other life forms that arenot vital for human living are instead deprioritized or allowed to die. The problems have clear consequencesbut do not pose a threat to human survival. Political efforts aim to bring about changes in people’s everydaylives and affect the use and decoration of households and public spaces. Empirically, I attach particularsignificance to the irrigation bans that Swedish municipalities can introduce to reduce water consumption.

In the Cold War, Sweden’s total defence extended to all parts of society. Preparations for war were a normal part of daily life. Military history has received more attention in historical research, but Sweden’s civil defence has recently attracted increasing interest. This article sheds new light on the knowledge supply and political governance of the total defence. We focus on Swedish food security and preparedness (livsmedelsberedskap), which was part of the economic defences that fell under the country’s civil defence system. We examine governmental investigations into the changes in Swedish agricultural production deemed necessary to reach the Swedish government’s planned level of preparedness. Two forms of what we term ”life politics” are charted in the studies commissioned or carried out by the Swedish Board of Agriculture in the late 1970s and early 1980s. We examine how these investigations made possible political interventions targeting the human population as well as the life of plants and the cultivated land. We provide new perspectives on Sweden’s civil defence by studying the significance of nonhuman life forms to Swedish public preparedness, which have received significantly less attention from historians than the human population and the development of, for example, new defence technologies and weapon systems.