Mastering Soldiers

Conflict, Emotions, and the Enemy in an Israeli Army Unit

Eyal Ben-Ari

• Publisher: Berghahn Books
• Year: 2001
• Print ISBN:
  9781571818386
  9781571811455
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781782389330
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Middle Eastern Politics
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Studies of the military that deal with the actual experience of troops in the field are still rare in the social sciences. In fact, this ethnographic study of an elite unit in the Israeli Defense Force is the only one of its kind. As an officer of this unit and a professional anthropologist, the author was ideally positioned for his role as participant observer. During the eight years he spent with his unit he focused primarily on such notions as "conflict", "the enemy", and "soldiering" because they are, he argues, the key points of reference for "what we are" and "what we are trying to do" and form the basis for interpreting the environment within which armies operate. Relying on the latest anthropological approaches to cognitive models and the social constructions of emotion and masculinity, the author offers an in-depth analysis of the dynamics that drive the men's attitudes and behavior, and a rare and fascinating insight into the reality of military life.

Table of contents

• MASTERING SOLDIERS
• CONTENTS
• PREFACE
• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• INTRODUCTION
• INTERLUDE 1: THE TENOR OF MILITARY LANGUAGE
• 1. THE MILITARY, ANTHROPOLOGY, AND ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE
• INTERLUDE 2: CAMARADERIE AND FELLOWSHIP
• 2. THE UNIT: AN INFANTRY BATTALION
• INTERLUDE 3: ACTION, FEAR, AND FIGHTING MEN
• 3. A MODEL OF COMBAT: SOLDIERING AND EMOTIONAL CONTROL
• INTERLUDE 4: IN THE FIELD
• 4. THE MODEL IN USE: THE BATTALION AND OTHER UNITS
• INTERLUDE 5: SOLDIERING THE INTIFADA
• 5. ENEMIES
• INTERLUDE 6: A LETTER TO THE MEN
• 6. MODELS OF MOTIVATION
• INTERLUDE 7: THE DIVIDING LINE BETWEEN OFFICERS AND MEN
• 7. CIVILIAN LIVES: EMOTIONS, CONTROL, AND MANHOOD
• INTERLUDE 8: STRAIGHT TALK AND FEELINGS
• 8. CONCLUDING CONSIDERATIONS
• EPILOGUE: MY ISRAELI MILITARY: A DISAPPEARING WORLD?
• APPENDIX I
• APPENDIX II
• APPENDIX III
• BIBLIOGRAPHY
• INDEX