This work narrates a qualitative sociological exploration with auto-ethnographic underpinnings. It deals with the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (SATRC) as a contextual case among others. The thesis seeks to answer the question of whether countries following a TRC route did better than those that did not use TRCs, when it comes to establishing civil control over the military. The author's exposure and involvement in the process as participant, participant observer, observer participant and observer inform the study. With the SATRC as one cornerstone other cases reflected upon include Argentina and Chile (Latin America), Spain and Portugal (Southern Europe), Namibia, Nigeria and Rwanda (Africa). / Sociology / D.Litt. et. Phil. (Sociology)

De nombreuses études concluent à la supériorité des démocraties dans la guerre. A travers notre analyse des relations unissant aujourd’hui les piliers de la trinité clausewitzienne classique – pouvoir politique, peuple et armée – notre recherche s’attache à mettre en évidence l’importance, à cet égard, de la définition du « sens de l’action ». Complexe à conceptualiser, cet objet naît de l’interaction des trois piliers de la trinité qui contribuent à le construire. Cette dynamique prend son origine dans le sens conféré, par le discours politique,à la décision de recourir à la force. Ce sens politique repose sur les intérêts nationaux tels qu’appréhendés par les décideurs, mais également, du fait de la contrainte démocratique, sur les préférences de l’opinion publique telles que perçues par le politique. Le soutien public apparaît essentiel pour alimenter la volonté politique dans le conflit, mais influence aussi le moral des militaires déployés en opérations. Notre étude s’attache donc, en second lieu, à analyser les composantes du sens conféré par les militaires à la mission qu’ils exécutent, afin de déterminer dans quelle mesure un sens politique insuffisamment clair peut influencer le soutien public et, in fine, une éventuelle perte de sens chez les soldats. Cette analyse multiscalaire cherche en définitive à répondre à la question de savoir pourquoi l’on se bat, en approfondissant deux cas d’étude : la participation de l’Armée de terre française à la FIAS, en Afghanistan, et à la FINUL renforcée, au Liban. Elle peut s’inscrire, plus largement, dans le courant d’analyse cherchant à déterminer les facteurs d’efficacité dans la guerre, en esquissant l’idée que les démocraties peuvent, du fait des contraintes qui leur sont propres, présenter une faiblesse à cet égard. / Many studies have determined that democracies perform better in war. Through our analysis of the relationship that links the pillars of today’s clasewitzian trinity – political leaders, people and soldiers – our study seeks to highlight the importance, to this regard, of defining the « meaning of the action ». In spite of a complex conceptualization, this object can be apprehended by analyzing the interactions of the three pillars, within the frame of a military intervention abroad. This interactional dynamic’s origin lies in the meaning given by the political discourse to the decision to use force. This political meaning leans on national interests (as perceived by policymakers), but also on public preferences (as perceived by policymakers), due to democratic constraint. Public support appears essential to underpin the political will during a conflict, but it also affects soldiers’ morale in the field. Secondly, our study thus seeks to analyse the components of the meaning given by soldiers to their mission,in order to determine to what extent an uncleared or blurred political meaning might affect public support and ultimately provoke a loss of meaning among the military. This multiscale approach aims to answer to the ultimate question of knowing why are we fighting, by deepening two case studies : the French Army contribution to ISAF (in Afghanistan) and UNIFIL II (in Lebanon). It can more broadly come within the framework of previous researchs studying strategic and battlefield effectiveness, by underlying that democracies might have a weakness in this regard.

This dissertation produces the first attempt to bring the work of sociologist Pierre Bourdieu and the political theory literature on citizenship into dialogue with the scholarship on American empire in the field of International Relations (IR). It explores how the United States’ quest for global pre-eminence, mirrored by the war in Iraq, reveals and exacerbates the social wounds at the seams of American society. To do this, it introduces three new concepts to the field of International Relations. It builds on historian Christophe Charle’s sociological framework of “imperial society” and “national habitus” (2001, 2004 and 2005) and introduces an original concept, the field of citizenship, to examine social conflict over the distribution of military sacrifice amongst citizens in the United States. Finally, it explores these tensions by looking at multiple documentary sources, including over 200 newspaper articles, 60 testimonies about the war from soldiers and their relatives, congressional documents, and military manpower policies.

This dissertation produces the first attempt to bring the work of sociologist Pierre Bourdieu and the political theory literature on citizenship into dialogue with the scholarship on American empire in the field of International Relations (IR). It explores how the United States’ quest for global pre-eminence, mirrored by the war in Iraq, reveals and exacerbates the social wounds at the seams of American society. To do this, it introduces three new concepts to the field of International Relations. It builds on historian Christophe Charle’s sociological framework of “imperial society” and “national habitus” (2001, 2004 and 2005) and introduces an original concept, the field of citizenship, to examine social conflict over the distribution of military sacrifice amongst citizens in the United States. Finally, it explores these tensions by looking at multiple documentary sources, including over 200 newspaper articles, 60 testimonies about the war from soldiers and their relatives, congressional documents, and military manpower policies.

Exploring Puritanical cultural habits in the 21st century American military, the following study focuses on U.S. Army courts-martial in the Global War on Terrorism. The study uses Emile Durkheim's original sociological interpretation of crime and deviance. That interpretation is linked with responsibility as described by Durkheim's follower Paul Fauconnet in Responsibility: A Study in Sociology ([1928] 1978) and with a new cultural reading of Max Weber's The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism ([1905] 1976). The study is an inductive, descriptive examination of the Puritanical aspects of American military culture based on its treatment of acts labeled as deviant and criminal in the Global War on Terrorism. Four sets of war crimes are included in the study: Abu Ghraib (which occurred in Iraq in 2004), Operation Iron Triangle (which occurred in Iraq in 2006), the Baghdad canal killings (which occurred in Iraq in 2007), and the Maywand District killings (which occurred in Afghanistan in 2010). My data include primary data collected through participation and observation as a consultant for courts-martial related to all the cases except Abu Ghraib. Records of trial, investigation reports, charge sheets, sworn statements, and other documentation are also included in the study as secondary data sources. The study illuminates how unconscious, Puritan cultural habits color and shape both military actions and their perceptions. I explore Puritanism and its influence on military law, responsibility, revenge, "magic" (in its sociological sense), and narcissism. The study concludes with observations and recommendations for changes in U.S. military law.

This dissertation produces the first attempt to bring the work of sociologist Pierre Bourdieu and the political theory literature on citizenship into dialogue with the scholarship on American empire in the field of International Relations (IR). It explores how the United States’ quest for global pre-eminence, mirrored by the war in Iraq, reveals and exacerbates the social wounds at the seams of American society. To do this, it introduces three new concepts to the field of International Relations. It builds on historian Christophe Charle’s sociological framework of “imperial society” and “national habitus” (2001, 2004 and 2005) and introduces an original concept, the field of citizenship, to examine social conflict over the distribution of military sacrifice amongst citizens in the United States. Finally, it explores these tensions by looking at multiple documentary sources, including over 200 newspaper articles, 60 testimonies about the war from soldiers and their relatives, congressional documents, and military manpower policies.

This work narrates a qualitative sociological exploration with auto-ethnographic underpinnings. It deals with the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (SATRC) as a contextual case among others. The thesis seeks to answer the question of whether countries following a TRC route did better than those that did not use TRCs, when it comes to establishing civil control over the military. The author's exposure and involvement in the process as participant, participant observer, observer participant and observer inform the study. With the SATRC as one cornerstone other cases reflected upon include Argentina and Chile (Latin America), Spain and Portugal (Southern Europe), Namibia, Nigeria and Rwanda (Africa). / Sociology / D.Litt. et. Phil. (Sociology)

This dissertation produces the first attempt to bring the work of sociologist Pierre Bourdieu and the political theory literature on citizenship into dialogue with the scholarship on American empire in the field of International Relations (IR). It explores how the United States’ quest for global pre-eminence, mirrored by the war in Iraq, reveals and exacerbates the social wounds at the seams of American society. To do this, it introduces three new concepts to the field of International Relations. It builds on historian Christophe Charle’s sociological framework of “imperial society” and “national habitus” (2001, 2004 and 2005) and introduces an original concept, the field of citizenship, to examine social conflict over the distribution of military sacrifice amongst citizens in the United States. Finally, it explores these tensions by looking at multiple documentary sources, including over 200 newspaper articles, 60 testimonies about the war from soldiers and their relatives, congressional documents, and military manpower policies.

La crise qui sévit actuellement au sein du leadership supérieur des Forces armées canadiennes (FAC) ramène au premier plan certaines lacunes structurelles profondes de la culture militaire canadienne. Le peu de représentation féminine parmi les postes clés fait resurgir les questionnements quant aux barrières limitant leur accès. L’objectif de ce mémoire sera d’abord de raconter les parcours de carrières de femmes militaires actives au sein de la Force régulière et d’en cerner les obstacles vécus en fonction du genre. Le matériel empirique puisé à partir des récits de vie permettra ensuite de déterminer l’existence de barrières structurelles pour identifier leur nature, leur construit et leur reproduction. Cette recherche est le produit de 15 entretiens semi-dirigés réalisés auprès de femmes militaires actives de la Force régulière. Elles évoluent distinctement dans les trois éléments des FAC (Marine royale canadienne, Armée canadienne et Aviation royale du Canada) et font carrière dans plus d’une dizaine de métiers différents. Le matériel empirique recueilli a permis de cibler des moments clés de la carrière et d’ensuite procéder à une analyse de croisement des données. Au niveau des parcours de carrière individuels, ce mémoire démontre que la culture normative dominante est issue d’une masculinité hégémonique. Ainsi, les métiers des armes de combat demeurent toujours les plus valorisés de l’organisation, étant ceux par lesquels passe l’ascension vers les rangs supérieurs. Structurellement, les allers-retours entre empirie et théorie ainsi que les interactions entre structure et individualité confirment l’existence de rapports de pouvoir multilatéraux, allant au-delà de la logique top-down de la hiérarchie. Ce multilatéralisme est vécu horizontalement en raison de la culture normative puis verticalement dans la hiérarchisation des rôles de genre et des échanges entre leaders et subordonné·e·s. Combiné aux exigences institutionnelles des FAC, il exacerbe les défis invisibles auxquels les femmes militaires se heurtent dans l’ascension des rangs, notamment en rapport avec la crédibilité minée, la conciliation travail-famille, la posture maternelle et le tokénisme d’être « première femme ». En donnant la parole aux récits de vie et aux parcours de carrières de femmes actuellement en service, ce mémoire contribue à briser l’invisibilité des réalités vécues et d’identifier les barrières structurelles de genre intrinsèque aux FAC. Au niveau empirique, la méthode utilisée contribue à l’avancement des recherches sur les parcours de carrière des femmes militaires des Forces armées canadiennes. Au niveau théorique, la méthode amène de nouvelles perspectives d’analyse complémentaires au féminisme d’État en l’appliquant à une bureaucratie atypique. Les théories mobilisées soulèvent des pistes de solution dans l’élaboration de politiques qui assureraient une meilleure rétention des femmes militaires déjà en poste. La recherche contribue également à la littérature francophone qui traite du leadership militaire féminin et des enjeux de genre dans les FAC. / The current crisis amongst the senior leadership of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) brings to the forefront structural gaps within Canadian military culture more broadly. The paltry representation of women within key posts has resurfaced questions surrounding barriers to entry. The objective of this thesis is primarily to present the career trajectories of Regular Force female members of the military and to highlight the obstacles they face because of their gender. The empirical data taken from these narratives allows for identifying structural barriers, their nature, their construction, and their reproduction. This research is the result of 15 semi-directed in-depth interviews conducted with female members of the military in the Regular Force. These women develop differently according to the three distinct elements of the CAF (Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and Royal Canadian Air Force) and bear witness to careers lived across more than ten different trades. The empirical data allows for the triangulation of key moments within each woman’s career and to then proceed to crossreferencing. On an individual career level, this thesis shows that the dominant normative culture derives from hegemonic masculinity. Furthermore, trades belonging to the combat arms are still the most valued within the organisation and represent the path to the highest attainable ranks. Structurally, the liaison between theory and empirical practice, and those between structures and individuality confirm the existence of multilateral relationships of power. These relationships go beyond the topdown logic of hierarchy. This multilateralism is lived horizontally because of the normative culture, vertically based on the hierarchization of gender roles, and also amidst the exchanges between leaders and subordinates. Combined with the CAF’s institutional requirements, this exacerbates the invisible challenges which confront women as they climb the ranks, notably with regard to credibility, worklife balance, motherhood, and the tokenism of being the “first woman.” By giving a platform to these narratives from currently serving women, this thesis serves to break invisible lived realities and identify the gendered structural barriers intrinsic to the CAF. On an empirical level, the method used contributes to the advancement of research on the career trajectories of woman in the Canadian Armed Forces. On a theoretical level, the method used applies new analytical perspectives related to state feminism and directs them toward an atypical bureaucracy. The theories discussed within this project upend the current policies which seek to promote retention amongst women already serving. This research also contributes to the body of francophone literature which deals with female military leadership and with gender issues in the CAF.