All articles

Thu
16
Jan

Young age at Army enlistment is associated with greater war zone risks: An analysis of British Army fatalities in Afghanistan August 2013: report

David Gee and Anna Goodman -

Published by ForcesWatch and Child Soldiers International, August 2013

The risk of fatality in Afghanistan for recruits who enlisted into the British Army aged 16 and completed training has been twice as high as it has for those enlisting at 18 or above.

The increased risk reflects the disproportionately high number of 16 year olds who join front-line Infantry roles. This is the result of recruitment policies which drive young people with limited academic qualifications into the Army’s most dangerous roles. Those who enlist at 16 are effectively barred from entering many of the less risky support or technical roles due to lack of qualifications. Another probable contributing factor is the longer average career length of 16 year old recruits who successfully complete training, leading to more tours of duty in Afghanistan when compared with adult recruits.

Thu
16
Jan

Violence, military service, and the education system in Chile

Manifestación en Santiago, Chile

Dan Contreras

In order to relate militarisation and youth in Chile, we must look to the past and recognise the hundreds of years of militarism in the history of this region. Chile has seen territorial and violent occupations by European colonists, the construction of 'homeland heroes' as the core motivational idea behind patriotism, the legalisation of mandatory military training, huge increases in military spending as compared to social spending, the incorporation of military practices within civilian schools, among many other examples. The brunt of these actions has been born by the population’s most economically vulnerable group, but potentially the strongest in political terms: the country’s boys, girls and young adults. The vulnerability of this segment of the population has allowed it to be exposed to militarisation with ease; potential pockets of resistance are neutralised.

Today, militarism is instilled in society through three different approaches:

Thu
16
Jan

Young people in Turkey besieged by militarism: Past and present

Serdar M. Değirmencioğlu -

Militarism has a long history in Turkey. It is therefore surprising that there are very few studies in the Social Sciences and in Education on how the militarisation of young people has operated. With a few exceptions, social scientists have remained silent when it comes to questioning the military and the way militarism has been instilled in young people, one generation after another.

Wed
15
Jan

Child Soldiers International on the kids being trained to kill

Rachel Taylor from Child Soldiers International talks to the host of Going Underground, Afshin Rattansi, about military recruitment age in the UK -- it's the lowest age in the Europe and the MoD doesn't want to change that. First aired 11.11.13

Child Soldiers International on the kids being trained to kill
Tue
14
Jan

Testing language based terms on node

This node has been added initially in Spanish ( ie http://cmoy.wri-irg.org/es/node/add/article)

On creation, the language was explcitly set to Spanish

On creation all terms were available irrespctive of language

I gave it a term that I know has a Spanish translation

Tue
14
Jan

Militarized Academia, Human Terrain System: article

Human Terrain as academia

Various -

The following is a list of articles and key extracts that deal specifically with the U.S. Army's Human Terrain System, and more broadly with "human terrain" applications of social sciences to military missions. The larger phenomenon of interest to AJP has to do with the militarization of academia. Emphases in bold have been added.

Tue
14
Jan

Militarisation in everyday life in the UK: a conference report

Armed Forces Community Covenant on our commitment to serving armed forces personnel, veterans and their families in Barnsley

ForcesWatch -

Many areas of society in the UK have seen a growing involvement and/or visibility of the military and military approaches in recent years - from schools, to local communities, to ‘militainment’ (military-themed films, TV programmes, video games etc). This process of privileging and prioritising the military is often referred to as ‘militarisation’; Cynthia Enloe, one of the foremost thinkers on the subject, states that “To become militarised is to adopt militaristic values and priorities as one's own, to see military solutions as particularly effective, to see the world as a dangerous place best approached with militaristic attitudes.”

Tue
14
Jan

Mind the Gap: Education for minors in the British armed forces

mind the gap

Forces Watch -

The minimum recruitment age for the British armed forces – 16 years – is one of the lowest in the world. The Ministry of Defence has traditionally justified recruiting from this age group by asserting that 16 years reflects the minimum statutory school leaving age.

However, as a result of successive governments’ policies to increase upper secondary education participation rates, over recent decades the number of young people leaving education and entering employment before the age of 18 has decreased significantly. Today, only a very small percentage of young people leave education at 16 (six per cent in 2009/2010). Apart from the Ministry of Defence, the only other institution which seeks to attract and retain this age group is the education system itself. It is with schools and colleges, not other employers, that the Ministry of Defence directly competes to recruit young people.

Mon
13
Jan

Reports from the International Day of Action for Military-Free Education and Research: action reports

The first International day of action For Military-Free Education and Research was organized by War Resisters International on June 14th 2013. Activists in India, Germany, South Africa, the State of Spain, Chile, Congo, the USA and Israel, called for a separation of the military from education.

Mon
13
Jan

Refusing Militarism: Political Emotions and State-making in Israel

Break the Silence! Anti-Zionism is NOT Anti-Semitism!

Poppy Kohner -

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