Researching the Military

Researching the Military focuses on the experiences of researchers who study the military around the world. It explores the historical, social, institutional and personal factors that frame research and scrutinize the way knowledge in this area impacts society and policy. More than merely analyzing research experiences (yet necessarily including them), it is also about the experiences of researchers, their position with regard to the object of their studies, the institutional context where they work and the way their research impacts the academic and policy-making fields in the respective countries. The common theme to the various chapters is reflexivity, a conscious effort at addressing the conditions of research and the position of the researcher and the research participants in that interface. By collecting diverse experiences of researchers from across the world, this volume aims to enhance reflexivity in the field of military studies and to encourage the exchange of knowledge between the academic field and the military arena. This book will be of much interest to students of military studies, research methods, sociology, social anthropology and security studies, in general.

Helena Carreiras is Professor at the School of Sociology and Public Policy of ISCTE-University Institute of Lisbon. Celso Castro is Professor and current Director of CPDOC (The School of Social Sciences and History) at Getulio Vargas Foundation, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Sabina Fréderic is Research Associate at CONICET (National Scientific and Technical Research Council of Argentina) and Associate Professor at the University of Quilmes, Argentina.

Introduction, Helena Carreiras, Celso Castro and Sabina Frederic 1. Reflexivity and the sociological study of the Military, Helena Carreiras and Ana Caetano 2. What is worthy of study about the Military? The Sociology of Militaries-in-Use in current-day conflicts, Eyal Ben-Ari 3. Reflections on insider-outsider experiences of military research in South Africa, Lindy Heinecken 4. Bridging the gap between academic findings and operational military needs, Ljubica JeluSic, Janja Vuga BerSnak, Julija JeluSic Juznic 5. Researching military geographies, Rachel Woodward 6. Irregular Anthropology: researching for the Military, Piero Leirner 7. Interviewing the Brazilian Military: reflections on a research experience, Celso Castro 8. The effects of military service on women's life from the narrative perspective, Edna Lomsky-Feder and Orna Sasson-Levy 9. Ethnography is a kind of flight. Experience-near methods in researching a-4b pilots of the Malvinas-Falklands war , Rosana Guber 10. An ethnographic research in the military field. Rethinking academic autonomy in the study of the exodus of junior military personnel in Argentina, Sabina Frederic 11. Immersion experiences within military organizations, Claude Weber 12. The social scientist-soldier in action on the military field, Alicia Paya y Pastor 13. An experience of ethnographic research with military families in the Brazilian amazon border, Cristina Rodrigues da Silva 14. Women researching the military. The researcher-researched relationship through a gender sensitive perspective, Teresa Ammendola, Fatima Farina and Maria Grazia Galantino 15. Linked Lives in Military Sociology: Family, Research, Teaching, and Policy, David R. Segal and Mady Wechsler Segal Conclusion, Helena Carreiras, Celso Castro and Sabina Frederic