Sociology of the Military

Kelly, J. (in press) Popular Culture, Sport and the 'Hero'-fication of British Militarism

by john kelly

Soon to be published in Sociology.

A number of culturally significant practices have become incorporated into promoting and normalising British... more A number of culturally significant practices have become incorporated into promoting and normalising British militarism in the face of increasing controversies surrounding Britain’s role in the “War on Terror”. Utilising a critical discourse analysis, this article draws on Goffman’s deference and demeanour work and asserts that in conjunction with other popular cultural practices, sport is being co-opted into a multi-agency strategy that positions the military, government, media and citizens in a joint ceremony of supportive affirmation of UK militarism. A discursive formation, which circumscribes legitimate discourses around the “War on Terror” is shown to symbolically annihilate critical opposition to British aggression in Iraq and Afghanistan whilst normalising the joint ceremony of support.

Estudio Organizacional de la Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional SEDENA

by Paloma Mendoza

Cartel del Segundo Congreso de Alumnos de Posgrado, UNAM

La Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional SEDENA en las Relaciones Civil-Militares de México. Estructura de la SEDENA.... more La Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional SEDENA en las Relaciones Civil-Militares de México. Estructura de la SEDENA. Ejército y Fuerza Aérea Mexicanos, Fuerzas Armadas
Mexico´s Military, Mexican Armed Forces, Civil-Military Relations, structure of the Mexican armed forces

Estudio Organizacional de la Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional SEDENA

by Paloma Mendoza

Cartel del Segundo Congreso de Alumnos de Posgrado, UNAM

La Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional SEDENA en las Relaciones Civil-Militares de México. Estructura de la SEDENA.... more La Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional SEDENA en las Relaciones Civil-Militares de México. Estructura de la SEDENA. Ejército y Fuerza Aérea Mexicanos, Fuerzas Armadas
Mexico´s Military, Mexican Armed Forces, Civil-Military Relations, structure of the Mexican armed forces

Asymmetrical Military Socialization: Mongolia as a Case Study

by Mendee Jargalsaikhan

published [online] Armed Forces & Society, 2012

This article presents a small state’s perspectives on military socialization by examining military interactions at... more This article presents a small state’s perspectives on military socialization by examining military interactions at political and strategic, operational, and tactical as well as educational tiers. Transnational military socialization creates learning and socializing environments for militaries. However, the transnational military socialization process in Asia has received little scholarly attention, although its nature changed dramatically after the Cold War and 9/11. A small state often enters into asymmetric socialization with major powers. Mongolia presents an interesting case to capture these changes and impacts of transnational military interactions. The Mongolian military internalized Soviet military norms, ideas, and values during its seventy-year military socialization process. Since then, it has been attempting to disconnect from its communist past by internalizing the Western military norms, ideas, and culture even though it is isolated from the Western world. Interactions between Sino-Mongolian militaries over the past two decades have not resulted in any in-depth exchanges of ideas due to political, historical, and cultural factors. In the absence of explicit pressures from these three major powers, today the Mongolia military has consolidated a new identity, similar to a Western military. It has increased its contribution to peace support operations while attempting to disconnect its Soviet past and avoiding absorption from the growing Chinese military initiatives toward Central Asia. At the same time, Mongolia’s military socialization with Russian or American militaries often triggers uncertainty for Chinese security.

Asymmetrical Military Socialization: Mongolia as a Case Study

by Mendee Jargalsaikhan

published [online] Armed Forces & Society, 2012

This article presents a small state’s perspectives on military socialization by examining military interactions at... more This article presents a small state’s perspectives on military socialization by examining military interactions at political and strategic, operational, and tactical as well as educational tiers. Transnational military socialization creates learning and socializing environments for militaries. However, the transnational military socialization process in Asia has received little scholarly attention, although its nature changed dramatically after the Cold War and 9/11. A small state often enters into asymmetric socialization with major powers. Mongolia presents an interesting case to capture these changes and impacts of transnational military interactions. The Mongolian military internalized Soviet military norms, ideas, and values during its seventy-year military socialization process. Since then, it has been attempting to disconnect from its communist past by internalizing the Western military norms, ideas, and culture even though it is isolated from the Western world. Interactions between Sino-Mongolian militaries over the past two decades have not resulted in any in-depth exchanges of ideas due to political, historical, and cultural factors. In the absence of explicit pressures from these three major powers, today the Mongolia military has consolidated a new identity, similar to a Western military. It has increased its contribution to peace support operations while attempting to disconnect its Soviet past and avoiding absorption from the growing Chinese military initiatives toward Central Asia. At the same time, Mongolia’s military socialization with Russian or American militaries often triggers uncertainty for Chinese security.

Who Gives the Orders in the New Russian Military?

by Keir Giles

March 2012

The process of transformation of the Russian military, under way since 2008, is intended to turn the Armed Forces of... more The process of transformation of the Russian military, under way since 2008, is intended to turn the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation from the atrophied remnant of the Soviet Armed Forces into a usable military tool for the 21st century. This includes radical reform of command and control systems at all levels up to the supreme command.



Previous conclusions on the nature of post-Soviet Russian military command and control systems may therefore no longer be valid. This is significant for Russia's overseas partners who wish to understand the nature of a potential Russian reaction to any challenge which can be interpreted as a military threat.



In particular, understanding of the division of responsibilities between the Ministry of Defence and the General Staff needs to be updated following the dramatic contraction of both bodies and redistribution of their functions.



The emergence of the Security Council of the Russian Federation as an additional body exerting control over the military also needs to be considered, when examining how decisions affecting the Armed Forces are made at the highest level.



Lower down the chain of command, the creation of the new Joint Strategic Commands also bears directly on the nature of decision-making on employment of forces, in ways which appear still debatable even within Russia but which are of critical importance for close neighbours of Russia.



The example of the early stages of armed conflict in Georgia in August 2008 could suggest that the Joint Strategic Commands are in part intended to ensure closer control over small units, in order to reduce the potential for independent and uncontrolled activity.



This paper seeks to introduce the new landscape of military decision-making in Russia, in order to raise key questions over the nature of the new command and control systems which are critical for a full understanding of how, when and in what manner Russia's Armed Forces may be used in the future.

Foubert, J.D. & Masin, R. (in press). Effects of The Men’s Program on U.S. army soldiers’ intentions to commit and willingness to intervene to prevent rape: A pretest posttest study. Violence and Victims

by John Foubert

Non-commissioned male officers in the U.S. Army stationed in Germany were trained to present a one-hour rape... more Non-commissioned male officers in the U.S. Army stationed in Germany were trained to present a one-hour rape prevention workshop, The Men’s Program, to 237 enlisted male soldiers. A comparison group of 244 male soldiers received a briefing focused on reducing the individual’s risk for experiencing sexual assault, discussion of myths and facts about sexual assault, and how to avoid being accused of sexual assault. Participants in The Men’s Program experienced significant change in the predicted direction for bystander willingness to help, bystander efficacy, rape myth acceptance, likelihood of raping, and likelihood of committing sexual assault with low to medium effect sizes. Comparison group participants experienced no effect on these variables except for a significant decline in rape myth acceptance with a very low effect size. Between-group differences pointed to the efficacy of The Men’s Program. Implications of these results for rape prevention programming in the military are discussed.

The Romanian Army Officer Lt. Alexandru Gheorghe (27 y.o.) Fights for Democracy Under the Weight of the Lingering Communist Era Tombstones

by Adrian Toader-Williams

Denigrating intellectuals and eliminating people that stands out against the ruling government for a public interest cause has deep roots in the old time human behavior tendency to hold power. Personally I have hard time to accept that during our days such concepts and practices are still generalized in the civilized countries. Remainders of the old communist and dictatorial regimes isolated tendencies are possible to linger around. We can aim towards a sustainable development only by reaffirming the democracy, the social contract and the fundamental law protecting the Human Rights. If not absolutely nothing makes sense. Full Article: http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-743320 Military Army NATO Romania Social Contract Human Rights Health Freedom Economy Economics Equilibrium TEKT Triangular Ecokinematics Theory Webcast Romania Retirement Law Education Security Sustainable Development Government Finances Banks Money Inflation Attribution

Denigrating intellectuals and eliminating people that stands out against the ruling government for a public interest... more Denigrating intellectuals and eliminating people that stands out against the ruling government for a public interest cause has deep roots in the old time human behavior tendency to hold power. Personally I have hard time to accept that during our days such concepts and practices are still generalized in the civilized countries. Remainders of the old communist and dictatorial regimes isolated tendencies are possible to linger around. We can aim towards a sustainable development only by reaffirming the democracy, the social contract and the fundamental law protecting the Human Rights. If not absolutely nothing makes sense. Full Article: http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-743320

The Burial of the Dead: the British Army on the Western Front, 1914–18

by Ross Wilson

War & Society, Vol. 31 No. 1, March, 2012, 22–41

This article examines the ‘war culture’ that developed within the British Army with regard to death and burial on the... more This article examines the ‘war culture’ that developed within the British Army with regard to death and burial on the Western Front. Soldiers on the battlefields responded to the presence of death and the bodies of the dead through a specific framework that was used to understand this perverse and violent landscape. This drew upon pre-war practices and emphasized the physicality of the corpse in the desire to ensure a ‘decent’ burial for a ‘pal’.

Typologies des acteurs de l'industrie des services militaires

by Philippe Dufort

Research note, Centre for Security and Foreign Policy Studies  (CEPES), October 2007, 48p.

The Military And the Family As Greedy Institutions

by Armed Forces & Society

Mady Wechsler Segal

This paper analyzes military families as the intersection of two societal institutions, both of which make great... more This paper analyzes military families as the intersection of two societal institutions, both of which make great demands on individuals in terms of commitment, loyalty, time, and energy. It shows the increasing conflict between these two "greedy institutions' due to various trends in American society and military family patterns. The demands that American armed forces make on members and their families are described, including the risk of injury or death, geographic mobility, family separations, residence in foreign countries, and normative constraints on the behavior of spouses and children. Also discussed are trends that are increasing the potential military/family conflict, including general changes in women's roles in society (especially labor force participation) and specific changes in military family patterns, such as increases in the number of married junior enlisted personnel, sole parents, active duty mothers, and dual-service couples. Actual and potential military adaptations to these changes are considered, with particular attention to their implications for institutional and occupational trends in the military.

Army Transformation and the Junior Officer Exodus

by Armed Forces & Society

Mark R. Lewis

This article examines the elevated rate of voluntary attrition from the junior officer corps of the United States Army... more This article examines the elevated rate of voluntary attrition from the junior officer corps of the United States Army between 1995 and 2001 to consider how it relates to the army’s vision of the future. There was a conflict between the army’s need for numbers of officers in the short term (to overcome the captain deficit) and its need for high-quality officers in the long term. Army transformation is predicated on the presence of mature, experienced, and highly skilled leaders at the lower levels who will use emerging technologies to achieve a level of military capability that exceeds what is possible today. However, trends in junior officer effectiveness and quality during this exodus period moved in the opposite direction. The army adopted measures to counter increased attrition, but the method had negative quality implications. This article recommends that junior officer attrition should be regarded as a symptom of a systemic problem, instead of an isolated challenge.

A new paradigm for military policy: Socioeconomics

by Patricia Shields

Published in Armed Forces & Society 1993. Vol. 19 No. 4: 511-531.

Socioeconomics is a new, more moral economic theory developed by Amitai Etzioni. Its purpose is to replace... more Socioeconomics is a new, more moral economic theory developed by Amitai Etzioni. Its purpose is to replace neoclassical economics. This article advocates socioeconomics as a paradigm for military policy and begins by showing how neoclassical economics has influenced military policy. Criticisms of the neoclassical approach by military sociologists are reviewed. Socioeconomics is briefly explained, key elements of the two models are compared, and socioeconomics is applied to the military. Socioeconomics shed light on both the careerism vs. professionalism and leadership vs. management debates. Moskos's I-O model, is also an application of socioeconomics.

From Institution to Occupation Trends in Military Organization

by Armed Forces & Society

Charles Moskos

The military can be understood as a social organization that maintains levels of autonomy while refracting broader... more The military can be understood as a social organization that maintains levels of autonomy while refracting broader societal trends. This article present two models of the military organization (institutional and occupational) and evaluates both as explanatory constructs. As an institution, the military organizations demonstrated key norms and values transcending self-interest, i.e. service. After the dissolution of the draft and the construction of the all-volunteer force, these institutional features seem to be evolving towards occupational policies, which use self-interest as motivational tools. Thus, for example, recruitment efforts under the all-volunteer force emphasize pay and benefits and deemphasize traditional military values. Given likely further development in the direction of the occupational model, two potential consequences are noted: the potential for trade unionism and the increased use of civilian technicians (contractors) to perform tasks once designated to military members.

"It's not their Job to Soldier': Distinguishing Civilian and Military in Soldiers' and Interpreters' Accounts of Peacekeeping in 1990s Bosnia-Herzegovina

by Catherine Baker

Journal of War and Culture Studies 3:1 (2010): 137-50

Peacekeeping operations throw the use of specialized military forces and the aim of accomplishing change in a civilian... more Peacekeeping operations throw the use of specialized military forces and the aim of accomplishing change in a civilian environment into contradiction. Organizations with cultures that facilitate warfighting have to reorient themselves towards achieving peace and consent rather than victory, making peacekeeping a process of constant intercultural encounters between ‘military’ and ‘civilian’ as well as between ‘international’ and ‘local’. The force’s local employees, civilians necessary in the force’s military tasks, inhabited a particularly ambiguous position. Based on more than 30 oral history interviews with peacekeepers and local interpreters who worked in Bosnia-Herzegovina, this paper shows how four dimensions of cultural and bodily difference emerged from their narratives: uniforms, weapons, disruptiveness and training.

Can 'Citizen in Uniform'Survive? German Civil-–Military Culture Responding to War.

by Tomas Kucera

published in 'German Politics' Vol. 21, No. 1 (2012)

This article points out the role of perceptions, hereafter referred to as ‘civil– military culture’, that German... more This article points out the role of perceptions, hereafter referred to as ‘civil– military culture’, that German society holds about the German armed forces. Analysing the discourse in German newspapers concerning Bundeswehr missions abroad since the early 1990s, and the engagement in Afghanistan in particular, it is argued that options to use the military abroad were circumscribed mainly to humanitarian tasks. This was so because German soldiers have been perceived in accordance with the official concept of a ‘citizen in uniform’, which has strong ethical implications, and consequently the Bundeswehr was seen as a humanitarian and rescue organisation. However, since the discourse in 2009 made it clear that the internalised civil–military culture no longer provides adequate guidance regarding how to approach a war-like situation such as that in Afghanistan, the entire German civil–military culture is challenged.

The Bureaucracy in Military Sociology

by Patricia Shields

Published as a chapter in Armed Forces and International Security: Global Trends and Issues 2003. edited by Jean Callaghan and Franz Kernic. New Brunswick, NJ: Transactions Publishers

This short chapter examines the literature on the bureaucracy in military sociology. This is a somewhat neglected... more This short chapter examines the literature on the bureaucracy in military sociology. This is a somewhat neglected topic and is treated in an interdisciplinary manner.

Autoritarismo e costruzione di personalità fasciste nelle forze armate italiane: un’autoetnografia

by Pietro Saitta

Charlie Barnao & Pietro Saitta (2012) Autoritarismo e costruzione di personalità fasciste nelle forze armate italiane: un’autoetnografia, "I quaderni del Cirsdig", n. 50, Messina: Cirsdig.

The present article focuses on the learning of aggression in a “total institution” within the Italian army – namely,... more The present article focuses on the learning of aggression in a “total institution” within the Italian army – namely, an elite corpse of paratroopers called Folgore. The extremely violent training and rituals of this group can be seen as both symbolic and particularly representative of the ideal model pursued within the army, and the armed forces in general. The central hypothesis of the work is that the learning of aggression within the military institution is wanted and controlled, being necessary and functional for the purposes of the military institution itself. Based on an autobiographic ethnography, main rituals and practices in the everyday life of the squad are described and analyzed by making conceptual references to the notions of rites of passage, rites of institution, and the psychological behaviourist learning model. Moreover, the authors argue that Italy is witnessing the transmission of practices and ideologies from the military to the police – thus producing a blend which makes the custom between war and peace ever more blurred.


Il presente articolo indaga le modalità di apprendimento della violenza all’interno di una “istituzione totale” e di un corpo d’elite dell’esercito italiano: la Folgore. L’addestramento e i riti estremamente violenti di questo gruppo possono essere considerati simbolici, oltre che particolarmente rappresentativi, di un modello ideale perseguito dall’esercito e dalle forze armate in genere. L’ipotesi centrale presentato nel lavoro è quella per cui l’apprendimento dell’aggressione dentro le forze armate è voluta e controllata, essendo funzionale ai fini di queste
stesse istituzioni. Attraverso un’etnografia autobiografica e il riferimento alle nozioni di rito di passaggio, rito di istituzione e, infine, al modello comportamentista di apprendimento, vengono descritti e analizzati i principali riti e le pratiche quotidiane di un reparto di paracadutisti. Gliautori sostengono inoltre che in Italia si stia assistendo alla trasmissione di pratiche e ideologie dall’esercito alla polizia, producendo una commistione che rende il confine tra guerra e pace sempre più confuso.

The burden of the draft: The vietnam years

by Patricia Shields

Published in the Journal of Political and Military Sociology 1981 Vol. 9 Fall pp. 215-228.

This study explores the draft during the Vietnam era. Using a national longitudinal sample of young men who were draft... more This study explores the draft during the Vietnam era. Using a national longitudinal sample of young men who were draft vulnerable over the period, it estimates the likelihood of being drafted for whites and blacks. Unlike other studies, it uses pre-service traits in the analysis.
The burden of the draft did not fall evenly upon young men of the period. Individuals who unfortunately possessed combinations of draft vulnerable personal characteristics-for example, black high school graduates-paid a higher than average price. The strength of the draft pressure variable, however, demonstrates the overriding importance of military demand. Men who were draft eligible during periods of high draft calls were least able to use the many deferment avenues. Hence, the fortunes of war or the luck of the draw was an important factor in determining who was drafted.

Women Pilots and Combat: Attitudes of Male and Female Pilots

by Patricia Shields

Published in Minerva: Quarterly Journal of Women and the Military. 8(2):21-35. (With Landon Curry and Janet Nichols)