Are Post-Cold War Militaries Postmodern?

Social scientists concerned with processes of change within military organizations have begun to appropriate the language of postmodernism in order to describe a number of transformations observed in military forces cross-nationally since the end of the Cold War. Although the thesis of the "pos...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Armed forces and society 2001-04, Vol.27 (3), p.319-342
Main Authors: BOOTH, BRADFORD, KESTNBAUM, MEYER, SEGAL, DAVID R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis
Armed Forces
Globalization
Military
Military art and science
Military research
Military Sociology
Modernism
Organizational Change
Post Cold War Period
Post-Cold War
Post-Fordism
Postmodernism
Rationality
Sociology
Sociology, Military
Theoretical Problems
Theory
War
War and society
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Summary:Social scientists concerned with processes of change within military organizations have begun to appropriate the language of postmodernism in order to describe a number of transformations observed in military forces cross-nationally since the end of the Cold War. Although the thesis of the "postmodern military" may have a novel appeal to scholars across a broad range of disciplines, this article argues that while substantial changes are indeed occurring in the armed forces of Western countries, there is at present little evidence to suggest that these changes are postmodern in nature. On the contrary, most of the developments in contemporary armed forces being described as such are actually modern in character—emerging as the result of rational, purposeful adaptation to environmental contingencies. We argue that the intellectual discourse of postmodernism is useful for military sociology only to the extent that scholars are able to apply discrete strands of postmodern social theory to predict or explain processes of change. The article examines the utility of three such strands: post-industrialism, post-Fordism, and globalization. Finally, alternative criteria, heretofore marginalized in the discussion of the postmodern military, are suggested as benchmarks to determine the degree to which the armed forces have indeed become postmodern.
ISSN:0095-327X
1556-0848
DOI:10.1177/0095327x0102700301