Browsing Political Studies by Subject "Constructivism"
Now showing items 1-2 of 2
-
Pretorius, Joelien (Sage, 2008)[more][less]
Abstract: This article proposes the notion of a security imaginary as a heuristic tool for exploring military isomorphism (the phenomenon that weapons and military strategies begin to look the same across the world) at a time when the US model of defence transformation is being adopted by an increasing number of countries. Built on a critical constructivist foundation, the security-imaginary approach is contrasted with rationalist and neo-institutionalist ways of explaining military diffusion and emulation. Merging cultural and constructivist themes, the article offers a ‘strong cultural’ argument to explain why a country would emulate a foreign military model and how this model is constituted in and comes to constitute a society’s security imaginary. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/452 Files in this item: 1
PretoriusMilitaryIsomorphism2008.pdf (262.1Kb) -
Pretorius, Joelien (Sage, 2008)[more][less]
Abstract: The article proceeds from the argument that war is a social institution and not a historical inevitability of human interaction, that is, war can be “unlearned.” This process involves deconstructing/dismantling war as an institution in society. An important step in this process is to understand the philosophical and cultural bases on which technology is employed as “tools” of war. The article focuses on such questions as, Is technology just viewed as instruments in the hand of its human masters in war? Does technology take on an autonomous role in war? How should we assess the impact of context (political, economic, and cultural) of technology when employed in war? By exploring these points, the article hopes to provide input into the discussion on the control of war technologies and ultimately the dismantling of war as an institution in society. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/453 Files in this item: 1
PretoriusTechnologicalWar2008.pdf (176.5Kb)
Now showing items 1-2 of 2