Helena Carreiras

This is the first comparative, cross-national study of the participation of women in the armed forces of NATO countries. Along side an analysis of this key topic stands a critique of existing theoretical models and the proposal of a revised analytical framework. Unlike previous works this new study employs mixed-methodological research design combining quantitative and qualitative data - a large N-analysis based on general policies and statistical information concerning every country in the sample with more in-depth case-studies. This volume includes original empirical data regarding the presence of women in the armed forces of NATO countries, proposes an index of ‘gender inclusiveness’ and assesses the factors that affect women’s military roles. The book also presents two new key case studies – Portugal and the Netherlands - based on both documentary sources and in-depth interviews of both men and women officers in the two countries. This book will be of great interest to all students and scholars of strategic studies, gender and women studies and military history.

Women in the Armed Forces of Western Democracies

Gender and the Military

Celso Castro

Sabina Frederic

Researching the Military focuses on the experiences of researchers who study the military around the world. It explores the historical, social, institutional and personal factors that frame research and scrutinize the way knowledge in this area impacts society and policy. More than merely analyzing research experiences (yet necessarily including them), it is also about the experiences of researchers, their position with regard to the object of their studies, the institutional context where they work and the way their research impacts the academic and policy-making fields in the respective countries. The common theme to the various chapters is reflexivity, a conscious effort at addressing the conditions of research and the position of the researcher and the research participants in that interface. By collecting diverse experiences of researchers from across the world, this volume aims to enhance reflexivity in the field of military studies and to encourage the exchange of knowledge between the academic field and the military arena. This book will be of much interest to students of military studies, research methods, sociology, social anthropology and security studies, in general.

Researching the Military

This book examines the methodology of qualitative research in military studies. Since the end of the Cold War, the number of studies on military and society has grown substantially in substance, size and impact. However, only a tiny part of this bibliography deals in depth with the research methods used, especially in relation to qualitative methods. The data that form the basis of the researchers' analyses are often presented as if they were immediately available, rather than as a product of interaction between the researcher and those who participated in the research. Comprising essays by international scholars, the volume discusses the methodological questions raised by the use of qualitative research methodology in military settings. On the one hand, it focuses on the specificity of the military as a social context for research: the authors single out and discuss the particular field effects produced by institutional arrangements, norms and practices of the military. On the other, the authors proceed in an empirical manner: all methodological questions are addressed with regard to concrete situations of field research. This book will be of much interest to students of military studies, research methods, sociology, anthropology, war and conflict studies and security studies in general.

Helena Carreiras

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