Men, masculinities and military organizations

Abstract

Militaries and militarism are among the most obviously gendered of all organizational activities. The military is also one of the clearest arenas of social power, violence and killing in their many guises. Military matters are urgent, powerful and lethal. The ways armies and those in them are organized and act are literally questions of life and death for all concerned. This chapter brings together studies on men and masculinities with those in the military and military organizations. Men, militarism and the military are historically, profoundly and blatantly interconnected. These interconnections have often either been simply accepted or it has gone unnoticed that these military persons are largely men. Indeed, many, though not all, armies and other fighting forces of the world have been and still are armies composed mainly of men, young men and boys. Those engaged in active combat and direct fighting in wars are often young men and boys. In the chapter, we address the place of men and masculinities in some key organizational issues in military organization and militarism, most notably recruitment, hierarchies and segregations, disability and veterans, and the impacts of these organizations on civilians, before concluding remarks on wider processes and impacts, on research, scientific and technological organizations, on international relations and geopolitics, and on the environment.