Social Sciences and the Military An Interdisciplinary Overview [Hardcover]

This innovative book presents the reader with a clear international view of interdisciplinary and intradisciplinary approaches to military and conflict-resolution studies. In this first title on its subject, leading expert Giuseppe Caforio offers a thorough analysis of the new aspects and trends of the social sciences in studying the military.

Since the end of the Cold War, military operations other than war, crisis-response operations, the fight against terrorism, and hi-tech warfare have posed for the militaries of all countries a new set of human and social challenges and problems of an intensity that had never been seen in peacetime. Sociology, social psychology, anthropology and the science of conflict are grappling with these issues, common to all armed forces, with a new fervour. This new book offers an update on the state-of-the-art on this theme and defines the latest study and research trends in the field.

Social Sciences and the Militarycontains essays by some of the most highly regarded scholars on the subject and will be essential reading for all students of civil-military relations, conflict resolution and military studies in general.

Introduction: Transdisciplinary and Transnational Character of Social Studies on the Military  Part 1.General Issues  2. Current Developments and Trends in Social Studies on the Military  3. Political Science and the Study of the Military  4. Social History and the Armed Forces (Military Education and Social Change)  5. From a Psychological to a Behavioral Sciences Approach and Beyond in Military Research: Current Status and Trends 6. Organizational Aesthetics and Workgroups in the Military  7. Military Organization and Culture from Three Perspectives: The Case of Army  8. Challenges of the Twenty First Century and Strategic Thinking