Studies of the military that deal with the actual experience of troops in the field are still rare in the social sciences. In fact, this ethnographic study of an elite unit in the Israeli Defense Force is the only one of its kind. As an officer of this unit and a professional anthropologist, the author was ideally positioned for his role as participant observer. During the eight years he spent with his unit he focused primarily on such notions as and “conflict and “, and “the enemy and “, and and “soldiering and ” because they are, he argues, the key points of reference for and “what we are and ” and and “what we are trying to do and ” and form the basis for interpreting the environment within which armies operate. Relying on the latest anthropological approaches to cognitive models and the social constructions of emotion and masculinity, the author offers an in-depth analysis of the dynamics that drive the men’s attitudes and behavior, and a rare and fascinating insight into the reality of military life.

Mastering Soldiers: Conflict, Emotions, and the Enemy in an Israeli Army Unit (New Directions in Anthropology, 10) PDF

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