The Duty to Serve? Changing Civic Attitude on Voluntary and Mandatory Public Service

What can sociology do in wartime? This session contends that traditional recruitment methods, including patriotic messaging or endorsements from political leaders, are no longer sufficient to attract younger generations to public service. Invites sociologists to explore the extent to which public service should be promoted as both a civic responsibility and a valuable opportunity for personal and professional development. It questions whether it is time to update the institutional vs occupational approach. This includes offering skills, training, education, and career benefits that make military careers more appealing.

This session invites social scientists to describe the need for broader institutional and cultural reforms that impact the armed forces and the civic attitudes in their country. Share it with European colleagues. By modernising recruitment practices, improving workplace culture, and fostering more positive public attitudes toward the military, governments can strengthen both recruitment and retention. It eventually tries what combination of voluntary enlistment, selective conscription, and organisational reform is necessary to meet future defence and security needs.

Session Organizer:

Ionel N SAVA, University of Bucharest, Romania, insava@sas.unibuc.ro

See more of: RC01 Armed Forces and Conflict Resolution
Back to: Full Group Listing