Kommunens roll i det nya totalförsvaret - en studie om tre skånska kommuners arbete med återupptagen totalförsvarsplanering

The Swedish government decided in late 2015 to reestablish the concept of “total defense”, the combined effort of civil and military defense, in response to a shifting political situation in Europe and around the Baltic sea, after decades of disarmament of both civil defense and the Swedish armed forces. This paper examines three local municipalities and their ability to handle their civil defense responsibilities in a complex modern world with transboundary threats and a broader perspective on risks. The study is conducted through qualitative interviews with representatives from the three municipalities. The gathered material is analyzed through theories of risk society and consequences of modernity, with the addition of earlier research in emergency management and cooperation. The results show that the decades of disarmament have left municipal actors with a knowledge deficit and that the complexity of modern society puts a higher strain on the municipalities ability to coordinate their work with both local and regional actors. Furthermore, the ability to coordinate the civil defense for the municipalities is limited by the absence of clear directives from state and county government