Sociopolitical Sciences and International Military Affairs: The Tunnel of War and Peace

This book examines the connection between sociology and international military affairs by analysing the work of key social and political scientists in the field.

The book demonstrates the renewed relevance of older sociological concepts such as imitation, unanticipated consequences of policies, structural violence, the governance of the commons, collateral damage, McDonaldization, the Garrison State and many others. It also proposes new notions, such as the dynamics of hostilization (as a twin concept of criminalization) and security panic. The work illustrates these concepts through examples from today’s world - including Gaza, the war in Ukraine, conflicts in Africa, and riots in cities such as Amsterdam. It also uses material from conflicts and military actions in the recent past, such as in Rwanda, Bosnia, and Afghanistan. The book is a companion volume to the author’s 2018 Sociology and Military Studies, which examined the link between sociology and the military by studying the work of key foundational thinkers in the field. As a follow-up, the present book presents 14 new authors from the field of general sociology and politics but takes a broader approach in terms of application, including the dynamics of politics, conflict and war.

This book will be of great interest to students of the social and political sciences, military studies, civil-military relations, war and conflict studies and International Relations in general.

Joseph Soeters is a professor emeritus from the Netherlands Defense Academy and Tilburg University, Netherlands. He has authored or (co-)edited some 15 books on various military topics, including Sociology and Military Studies (2018), Management and Military Studies (2020), and The Routledge Handbook of Research Methods in Military Studies (co-editor, 2014).