Suchergebnisse

This new edition of the volume is presented on the wave of the success which had its first edition (2003). It is entirely updated to the current situation of the disciplines covered, and expanded with particular regard to the new missions, that have become the main challenge for the armed forces in these first decades of the new millennium, with new insights to technological development toward so-called cyborg warriors, new forms of leadership and changes in soldier's identity and organisational culture. It is compiled of documents coming from various researchers at universities around the world as well as military officers devoted to the sector of study. Covered in this volume is a historical excursus of studies prior to contemporary research, interpretive models and theoretical approaches developed specifically for this topic, civic-military relations including issues surrounding democratic control of the armed forces, military culture, professional training, conditions and problems of minorities in the armed forces, an examination of the structural change within the military over the years including new duties and functions following the Cold War.

This essay introduces a special issue of Armed Forces & Society examining sociology at military academies around the globe. Articles represent nine countries—Canada, France, Japan, the Netherlands, Russia, South Africa, Sweden, Turkey, the United States. We begin with a brief history of sociology and the military and growth of military sociology as a subfield, followed by the development of military academies in general and sociology at military academies more specifically. The essay concludes with six trends found across the nine nations and ten academies—the stigma of sociology; the cannibalization of sociology courses; co-optation of sociological concepts; charismatic leadership; radical social change; and revitalization.

Military sociology is a new discipline and approach that seeks a better integration of the military world into society, understanding that they are a fundamental part of the origin of society and the safeguard of the structures that are originating as the State begins to grow. It is also necessary to understand that the military world is born from the civilian world as one of the structures of society, called to protect the rest of it.