This essay introduces a special issue of Armed Forces & Society examining sociology at military academies around the globe. Articles represent nine countries—Canada, France, Japan, the Netherlands, Russia, South Africa, Sweden, Turkey, the United States. We begin with a brief history of sociology and the military and growth of military sociology as a subfield, followed by the development of military academies in general and sociology at military academies more specifically. The essay concludes with six trends found across the nine nations and ten academies—the stigma of sociology; the cannibalization of sociology courses; co-optation of sociological concepts; charismatic leadership; radical social change; and revitalization.
Herbert Spencer.The Principles of Sociology (New York: Appleton, 1908); Emile Durkheim.Suicide (New York: Free Press, 1951); and Max Weber, Economy and Society ( Totowa, NJ: Bedminster Press, 1968 ). For an overview of what little attention was paid to the military and war in classical sociology, see Alessandro Gobbichi, I Meandri Della Ragione: La Guerra Nel Pensiero Sociale del XIX e XX Secolo ( Milano: FrancoAngeli, 1968).
2.
Mark Poster, The Second Media Age (Cambridge, UK: Polity Press, 1995); Jean Baudrillard, The Gulf War Did Not Take Place (Bloomington and Indianapolis, IN: Indiana University Press, 1995); Douglas Kellner, The Persian Gulf TV War ( Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1992 ); and Paul Virilio, Desert Screen: War at the Speed of Light (London and NY: Athlone Press, 1992).
3.
For a treatment of the military in introductory sociology courses see Morten G. Ender and Ariel Gibson, "Invisible Institution: The Military, War, and Peace in 1990s Introductory Sociology Textbooks" Journal of Political and Military Sociology , 33, 2 ( 2005): 249-66.
4.
Ardant DuPicq, Battle Studies: Ancient and Modern (Harrisburg, PA: Military Service Publishers, 1947).
5.
Robert M.Yerkes, Psychological Examining in the U.S. Army (Official Report of the Division of Psychology. Washington DC: National Academy of Sciences, 1921).
6.
Curtis L. Gilroy, David K. Horne, and D. AltonSmith, Military Compensation and Personnel Retention: Models and Evidence (Arlington, VA: U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences, 1991).
7.
Karl W. Haltiner, "The Definite End of the Mass Army in Western Europe?"Armed Forces & Society, 22 (1998): 619-43.
8.
Morten G. Ender , "Authorship and Affiliation, in Armed Forces & Society": Volumes 1-25, Armed Forces and Society27, 4 (2001): 623-38.
9.
Igor V.Obraztsov, "Teaching Sociology in Military Educational Institutions of Russia ," Armed Forces & Society, 35, 162-179.
10.
K. Pipping , "The Social Life of a Machine Gun Company," Acta Academiae Aboensis HumanioraXVI (1947).
11.
Karl Demeter , Das Deutsche Offizierkorps in Seinen Historisch-Sociologischen (Berlin: Grundlagen, 1930).
12.
Alfred Vagts , The History of Militarism: Romance and Realities of a Profession (New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 1937).
13.
David R. Segal and Mady Wechsler, "Military Sociology," in International Military and Defense Encyclopedia, ed. Trevor N. Dupuy (New York: Macmillan Library Reference, 1993), 2449-55.
14.
See Samuel A. Stouffer, Arthur A. Lumsdaine, Marion H. Lumsdaine, Robin M. Williams, Jr., M. Brewster Smith, Irving L. Janis, Shirley A. Star, and Leonard S. Cotrell , Jr., The American Soldier: Combat and Its Aftermath Vol. II (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1949) and Carl I. Hovland, Arthur A. Lumsdaine , and Fred D. Sheffield, Experiments on Mass Communication, Vol. III (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1949).
15.
Edward A. Shils and Morris Janowitz, "Cohesion and Disintegration in the Wehrmacht in World War II," Public Opinion Quarterly12 (1948): 280-315.
16.
George C. Homans, "The Small Warship." American Sociological Review11 ( 1946): 294-300.
17.
Lester Kurtz , "War and Peace on the Sociological Agenda," in Sociology and Its Publics: The Forms and Fates of Disciplinary Organization , ed. Terence C. Halliday and Morris Janowitz (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1992): 61-98.
18.
David R. Segal, "Military Studies," in Applied Sociology, ed. Howard E. Freeman, Russell Dynes, Peter H. Rossi , and William Foote Whyte ( San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1983 ): 234-50.
19.
Samuel Stouffer et al., The American Soldier and Carl Hovland et al., Experiments on Mass Communication.
20.
Bernard Boëne , "Teaching Sociology at Saint-Cyr, 1983-2004 and Beyond: A Personal Account." Armed Forces & Society , 35, 16-35. and Guy Siebold, "Core Issues and Theory in Military Sociology," Journal of Political and Military Sociology, 29, 1 (2001): 140-59.
21.
C. WrightMills, The Power Elite (New York: Oxford University Press, 1965).
22.
Harold D. Lasswell , "The Garrison State," American Journal of Sociology46 (1941): 455-68.
23.
Samuel P. Huntington, The Soldier and the State: The Theory and Politics of Civil-Military Relations (Cambridge, MA: Cambridge Harvard University Press, 1957) and Morris Janowitz, The Professional Soldier: A Social and Political Portrait (Chicago: The Free Press, 1960).
24.
Charles H. Coates and Ronald J. Pellegrin , Military Sociology: A Study of American Institutions and Military Life (University Park, MD: The Social Science Press, 1965).
25.
Bernard Boëne, "Social Science Research, War and the Military in the United States: An Outsider's View of the Field's Dominant National Tradition," in Military Sociology: The Richness of a Discipline, ed. Gerhard Kümmel and Andreas D. Prüfert (Baden-Baden, Germany: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft , 2000):149-254; James Burk, "Introduction: A Pragmatic Sociology," in Morris Janowitz: On Social Organization and Social Control, ed. James Burk, (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991): 1-58; and Ender, " Authorship and Affiliation in Armed Forces & Society," 623-38.
26.
Information about the Research Committee on Armed Forces and Conflict Resolution RC01 is available online through the International Sociological Association at: http://www.isa-sociology.org/ (accessed April 17, 2008).
27.
Gaetano Mosca , Elementi de Scienza Politica ( Rome: Fratelli Bocca, 1896). For a treatment see Giuseppe Caforio, "Military Sociological Research in Italy ," in Military Sociology: The Richness of a Discipline , eds. Gerhard Kümmel and Andreas D. Prüfert (Baden-Baden, Germany: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft, 2000): 116-27.
28.
Rudolf Steinmetz , Soziologie des Kriegs. ( Leipzig, 1929). For a treatment see Joseph L. Soeters "Military Sociology in the Netherlands," in Military Sociology: The Richness of a Discipline, eds. Gerhard Kümmel and Andreas D. Prüfert (Baden-Baden , Germany: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft, 2000): 128-39.
29.
Eyal Ben-Ari , Daniel Maman, and Zeev Rosenheck, "Military Sociological Research In Israel," in Military Sociology: The Richness of a Discipline , ed. Gerhard Kümmel and Andreas D. Prüfert ( Baden-Baden, Germany: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft, 2000): 91-115; Christopher Dandeker , "Armed Forces and Society Research in the United Kingdom: A Review of British Military Sociology," in Military Sociology: The Richness of a Discipline , ed. Gerhard Kümmel and Andreas D. Prüfert (Baden-Baden, Germany: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft , 2000): 68-90; Karl W. Haltiner, "Military Sociology in Switzerland," in Military Sociology: The Richness of a Discipline , ed. Gerhard Kümmel and Andreas D. Prüfert (Baden-Baden, Germany: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft, 2000): 140-48; Paul Klein, "Sociology and the Military in Germany," in Military Sociology: The Richness of a Discipline, ed. Gerhard Kümmel and Andreas D. Prüfert (Baden-Baden : Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft, 2000 ): 44-54; Philippe C. Manigart, "Military Sociological Research in Belgium," in Military Sociology: The Richness of a Discipline, ed. Gerhard Kümmel and Andreas D. Prüfert (Baden-Baden, Germany: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft , 2000): 10-21; and Michel Louis Martin, "French Military Sociological Research: A Still Promising Field," in Military Sociology: The Richness of a Discipline, ed. Gerhard Kümmel and Andreas D. Prüfert (Baden-Baden, Germany: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft, 2000): 22-43.
30.
René Moelker and Joseph Soeters, "Van Doorn and Beyond: From Teaching Sociology to Interdisciplinary, Problem-Based Learning in Dutch Officer Training ," Armed Forces & Society, 35, 36-48.
31.
Bernard Boëne , "Teaching Sociology at Saint-Cyr, 1983-2004 and Beyond: A Personal Account," Armed Forces & Society , 35, 16-35.
32.
Erna Danielsson and Alise Weibull, "Sociology at Military Academies: The Swedish Case," Armed Forces & Society, 35, 91-105.
33.
David R. Segal, "Military Education: Technical versus Liberal Perspectives," in The Role of Military Education in the Restructuring of Armed Forces, ed. E. Gilman and D. E. Herold (Rome: NATO Defense College Monograph Series, 1993 ): 57-76.
34.
Theodore Joseph Crackel, "The Founding of West Point: Jefferson and the Politics of Security," Armed Forces & Society , 7, 4 ( 1981): 529-43.
35.
Paul J. Dimaggio and Walter W. Powell, "The Iron Cage Revisited: Institutional Isomorphism and Collective Rationality in Organizational Fields," American Sociological Review48 (1983): 147-60.
36.
American Sociological Association, "Need Today's Data Yesterday?: Trend Data on the Profession" Available at http://www.asanet.org/research/faqintr02002.html (accessed April 10, 2004).
37.
David R. Segal, Mady Wechsler Segal, John M. Wattendorf, "The Sociology Program in a Professional School Setting: The United States Military Academy ," Teaching Sociology18 (1990): 156-63 and Morten G. Ender and Thomas A. Kolditz, "The Evolution of an Academic Program: Sociology at West Point, 1963-2001," in 200 Years of Education at West Point, ed. Lance Betros et al. (Abilene: Texas A&M University Press): 455-77.
38.
Richard T. Cooney, Gina D. Swanson, and David R. Segal , "Sociology at the U.S. Air Force Academy" (paper presented at the Biennial International Conference of the Inter-University Seminar on Armed Forces and Society, Chicago, IL, October 24-26, 2003).
39.
Stephen C. Trainor , Donald H. Horner, Jr., and David R. Segal , "The Enigmatic History of Sociology at the United States Naval Academy," Armed Forces & Society, 35, 106-121.
40.
Moelker and Soeters, "Van Doorn and Beyond," Armed Forces & Society, 35, 36-48.
41.
George Kaffes , "1961-2001: 40 Years of Sociology in the Hellenic Army Academy" (paper presented at the Eastern Sociological Society Meetings, Philadelphia, PA, February 27-March 3, 2003).
42.
Sabine Collmer , "Sociology at the Bundeswehr Universities" (paper presented at the World Congress of Sociology, Brisbane, Australia, July 7-13, 2002).
43.
Danielsson and Weibull, " Sociology at Military Academies," Armed Forces & Society , 35, 91-105.
44.
Obraztsov, "Teaching Sociology in Military Educational Institutions of Russia ," Armed Forces & Society, 35, 162-179.
45.
Franklin C. Pinch and Eric Ouellet, "Sociology in the Canadian Military Academy Curriculum," Armed Forces & Society, 35, 71-80.
46.
Boëne, " Teaching Sociology at Saint-Cyr, 1983-2004 and Beyond," Armed Forces & Society, 35, 16-35.
47.
Hitoshi Kawano , "The Expanding Role of Sociology at the Japan Self-Defense Academy: From None to Some and More?" Armed Forces & Society, 35, 122-144.
48.
Omar Gutierrez , "Teaching Social Science in Military Academies in Latin America" (paper presented at the World Congress of Sociology, Brisbane, Australia, July 7-13, 2002).
49.
Lindy Heinecken and Deon Visser, "Officer Education at the South African Military Academy: Social Science but No Sociology?" Armed Forces & Society, 35, 145-161.
50.
Mesut Uyar and A. Kadir Varoglu, "In Search of Modernity and Rationality: The Evolution of Turkish Military Academy Curricula in a Historical Perspective ," Armed Forces & Society, 35, 180-202. 51. Kurtz, " War and Peace on the Sociological Agenda," 98.
51.
Boëne, " Teaching Sociology at Saint-Cyr, 1983-2004 and Beyond," Armed Forces & Society, 35, 16-35.
52.
Heinecken and Visser, "Officer Education at the South African Military Academy," Armed Forces & Society, 35, 145-161.
53.
Moelker and Soeters, "Van Doorn and Beyond," Armed Forces & Society, 35, 36-48.
54.
Danielsson and Weibull, " Sociology at Military Academies," Armed Forces & Society , 35, 91-105.
55.
Ender and Kolditz, "The Evolution of an Academic Program," 470 and Morten G. Ender, Ryan Kelty, and Irving Smith, "Sociology at West Point," Armed Forces & Society, 35, 49-70.
56.
Cooney et al., Sociology at the U.S. Air Force Academy.
57.
Kawano, " The Expanding Role of Sociology at Japan National Defense Academy: From None to Some and More?" Armed Forces & Society, 35, 122-144.
58.
Heinecken and Visser, "Officer Education at the South African Military Academy," Armed Forces & Society, 35, 145-161.
59.
Trainor et al., "The Enigmatic History of Sociology at the United States Naval Academy ," Armed Forces & Society, 35, 106-121.
60.
Pinch and Ouellet, "Sociology in the Canadian Military Curriculum," Armed Forces & Society , 35, 71-90.
61.
Ender and Kolditz, "The Evolution of an Academic Program," 470 and Ender et al., " Sociology at West Point," Armed Forces & Society, 35, 49-70.
62.
Heinecken and Visser, "Officer Education at the South African Military Academy," Armed Forces & Society, 35, 145-161.
63.
Boëne, " Teaching Sociology at Saint-Cyr, 1983-2004 and Beyond," Armed Forces & Society, 35, 16-35.
64.
Ender and Kolditz, "The Evolution of an Academic Program," 470 and Ender et al., " Sociology at West Point," Armed Forces & Society, 35, 49-70.
65.
Trainor et al., "The Enigmatic History of Sociology at the United States Naval Academy ," Armed Forces & Society, 35, 106-121.
66.
Snow argues persuasively that sociology is unique in its ability to offer a collection of elements that are added value for an overall academic program-values that singularly might be associated with other disciplines-but collectively set the discipline of sociology apart from others. They include: (1) a window to the world; (2) relational connectedness; (3) contextual embeddedness; (4) the ironic perspective; and (5) addressing social problems. See David A. Snow, "1998 PSA Presidential Address: The Value of Sociology," Sociological Perspectives42, 19 (1999): 1-22.
67.
For a discussion of the need of sociological imagination among army officers, see Scott Efflandt and Brian Reed, "Developing the Warrior-Scholar ," Military Review4 (August 2001): 82-89
