Manchester University Press
1 Soldiers, citizens and strangers
Abstract
This chapter conceptualises how compulsory military service and conscientious objection to conscription are political performances in the public realm that are constitutive of personal and political identity. It analyses the state in terms of the individual's relationship to and with it. Citizenship is the moment at which the individual becomes a political actor and enters into a formal relationship with the state and its institutions. The chapter explores conscientious objection to military service in relation to citizenship and militarised gender. The interconnections between citizenship, masculinity and military service have been well documented. The challenge that conscientious objectors pose to militarism and therefore militarised masculinities can be audacious and profound. Objectors to military service are an ambivalent presence in society: objectors are 'strangers' who destabilise the socially constructed organisation of modernity, which is premised on a co-dependent binary of 'insiders' and 'outsiders'/'friends' and 'enemies'.
Abstract
This chapter conceptualises how compulsory military service and conscientious objection to conscription are political performances in the public realm that are constitutive of personal and political identity. It analyses the state in terms of the individual's relationship to and with it. Citizenship is the moment at which the individual becomes a political actor and enters into a formal relationship with the state and its institutions. The chapter explores conscientious objection to military service in relation to citizenship and militarised gender. The interconnections between citizenship, masculinity and military service have been well documented. The challenge that conscientious objectors pose to militarism and therefore militarised masculinities can be audacious and profound. Objectors to military service are an ambivalent presence in society: objectors are 'strangers' who destabilise the socially constructed organisation of modernity, which is premised on a co-dependent binary of 'insiders' and 'outsiders'/'friends' and 'enemies'.
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- List of Illustrations vii
- Acknowledgements ix
- Abbreviations xi
- Introduction 1
- 1 Soldiers, citizens and strangers 17
- 2 The militarisation of South Africa and the growth of war resistance 33
- 3 Performing citizenship, engendering consent 56
- 4 ‘Going the right way’ 86
- 5 Breaking away 106
- 6 ‘Every coward’s choice’? 128
- Conclusion 148
- Bibliography 154
- Index 172
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- List of Illustrations vii
- Acknowledgements ix
- Abbreviations xi
- Introduction 1
- 1 Soldiers, citizens and strangers 17
- 2 The militarisation of South Africa and the growth of war resistance 33
- 3 Performing citizenship, engendering consent 56
- 4 ‘Going the right way’ 86
- 5 Breaking away 106
- 6 ‘Every coward’s choice’? 128
- Conclusion 148
- Bibliography 154
- Index 172
