Inverkan på identiteten i en global värld - Hur påverkas svenska diplomater av sitt yrke?

Sammanfattning: How is the identity of Swedish diplomats affected by living a very international life, regularly moving from one place to another, while their main task is to represent Sweden at all times? How does the national identity relate to the professional and the international identity and what role does the context play in this process? These are the questions asked in this thesis. By interviewing 39 Swedish diplomats and by comparing the responses of the interviews and the theories applied, this thesis will show that it is the context, rather than the time spent abroad that changes their identities and not the least their perspectives of the world. The theories concern intersectional identities, nationalism, context and globalisation. It is from the point of view that identities are constructed and therefore changeable. The diplomats gain a greater awareness of their Swedish identity, wider and deeper perspectives of what it means to be Swedish, but also the advantages that other cultures have to offer. Diplomats all have non-territorial (including a fellowship with colleagues in the international diplomatic corps) and territorial identities, but they rarely contest each other since they are parallel and are changeable in a dynamic process depending on the situation and location.