XIX ISA World Congress of Sociology (July 15-21, 2018)

39

Developments within the Military Profession I

RC01 Armed Forces and Conflict Resolution (host committee)

Language: English

As argued by Norbert Elias more than half a century ago, the military profession has always undergone change. Accordingly, this session aims to show the significance of these changes and the prospects of renewing the military profession. Moskos’ Institutional/Occupational drift model brought forth much research in terms of the effect that the shift to an all-volunteer force had on the military profession and institution. This session hopes to solicit papers beyond this debate. Papers are invited to address the following topics: How have societal changes affected the identity and standards of the military profession and officer corps? How does public opinion influence the military profession? What is the connection between societal change, institutional change and the military profession? What effect is the privatisation of security having on the military profession? How is technological change influencing the profession? While many of these question are not new, what is certain is that the armed forces are undergoing fundamental change. What this session hopes to achieve is to solicit more robust sociological engagement with these issues.