Unknowing the unknowable. From ‘critical war studies’ to a critique of war

Boemcken, Marc von

doi:10.1080/23337486.2016.1178493

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…The conceptual framework of dis/appearances provides a structure for systematic and detailed examination of the representation of violence; the complementary model of analytical questions (see Figure 1) together with the empirical illustration further explicate how one may make use of the three combined concepts. Yet besides offering a framework for the classification of narrative themes and fragments, the conceptualization of dis/appearances also serves as a starting point for critically examining the frames of intelligibility that narratives on war and violence generally create; it encourages a critical engagement with the representation of war and violence with a mind to the regimes of truth that war produces and its reconfigurations of knowledge (see Barkawi and Brighton 2011;von Boemcken 2016). In contrast to the literature on strategic narratives, which tends to focus on the role of narratives in mobilizing public support (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How violence dis/appears in narratives on war-like operations: a conceptual framework

Sandman

2021

Critical Military Studies

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The present article advances a conceptual framework for the critical study of the representation of war and military violence. Essentially, it offers a conceptualization of dis/appearances of violence in public discourse, which combines the concepts of in/visibilization, de/ naturalization, and dis/identification. Though they overlap and interweave in terms of what they capture, all three are considered relevant to fully elaborate how violence may dis/appear in narratives on war-like operations. Furthermore, the article exemplifies how one may make use of the conceptual framework, by exploring the representation of violence in Swedish public political debate at the time of active engagement in peace-enforcement and offensive military operations. More specifically, the empirical illustration critically examines the parliamentary debates on ONUC in Congo 1960-1964 and ISAF in Afghanistan 2002. The analysis reveals and details how violence continuously tends to disappear as a reality, as a dilemma and/or as Sweden's own practice and choice. At present, the scholarly debate mainly focuses on the US or the UK. To advance our understanding of the ways in which violence is normalized and made possible, we need refined conceptual tools that allow us to explore the complexity and political work of representations of war and violence in various contexts.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How violence dis/appears in narratives on war-like operations: a conceptual framework

Sandman

2021

Critical Military Studies

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“…In fairness, Barkawi and Brighton (2011: 133) gesture towards this in acknowledging ‘war’s recalcitrance as an object of knowledge’ and allowing for war to unmake any truth. Yet they seem unwilling to embrace the full force of their own insight, which Marc von Boemcken (2016: 239) ultimately declares: ‘even the statement that “war is fighting” may well be eventually undone by war. In a very fundamental manner, war escapes human intelligibility.’…”

Section: Introduction: the Mystery Of Warmentioning

confidence: 99%

Becoming war: Towards a martial empiricism

2020

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Under the banner of martial empiricism, we advance a distinctive set of theoretical and methodological commitments for the study of war. Previous efforts to wrestle with this most recalcitrant of phenomena have sought to ground research upon primary definitions or foundational ontologies of war. By contrast, we propose to embrace war’s incessant becoming, making its creativity, mutability and polyvalence central to our enquiry. Leaving behind the interminable quest for its essence, we embrace war as mystery. We draw on a tradition of radical empiricism to devise a conceptual and contextual mode of enquiry that can follow the processes and operations of war wherever they lead us. Moving beyond the instrumental appropriations of strategic thought and the normative strictures typical of critical approaches, martial empiricism calls for an unbounded investigation into the emergent and generative character of war. Framing the accompanying special issue, we outline three domains around which to orient future research: mobilization, design and encounter. Martial empiricism is no idle exercise in philosophical speculation. It holds the promise of a research agenda apposite to the task of fully contending with the momentous possibilities and dangers of war in our time.

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“…This isn't just a limitation of the scientific method but more deeply speaks to whether an ontology of war can be rendered transparent. 73 Investigations into the epistemology of lethality thus reveal something that is missing from literature on critical war studies. Brighton argues that war 'forces the unmaking and remaking of social and political meaning in ways that defy prediction'.…”

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confidence: 99%

The epistemology of lethality: Bullets, knowledge trajectories, kinetic effects

Ford

2019

Eur. j. of int. secur.

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The science of ammunition lethality is a field that seeks to define the point at which military ordnance takes life and produces death. By historicising lethality's epistemology, I reveal the intellectual fissures and scientific uncertainties that have been reified and embedded into contemporary conceptions of military power. This not only tells us something about the processes by which science is subordinated to war, but also offers a new lens from which to consider the way knowledge claims about battle are co-constructed and legitimated through military practices. As a result, this article places science back into a narrative that otherwise frames the ontology of war in terms of fighting.

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Unknowing the unknowable. From ‘critical war studies’ to a critique of war

Cited by 4 publications

References 16 publications

How violence dis/appears in narratives on war-like operations: a conceptual framework

How violence dis/appears in narratives on war-like operations: a conceptual framework

Becoming war: Towards a martial empiricism

The epistemology of lethality: Bullets, knowledge trajectories, kinetic effects

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