The Bureaucracy of Militarism: Gender, Race and Class in the British Security State

军国主义官僚：英国安全国家中的性别、种族和阶级

• 批准号: ES/X007480/1
• 负责人: Hannah Wright
• 金额: $ 12.99万
• 依托单位: Queen Mary University of London
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Fellowship
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ES%2FX007480%2F1
• 关键词: Bureaucracy; Militarism; Gender; Race; Class

Regardless of which political party has been in power, successive UK governments have taken an approach to national security that relies heavily on the use or threat of force. Despite evidence that overseas military interventions, heavy-handed policing and intrusive surveillance regimes undermine the safety of ordinary people - particularly those marginalised by race, class and/or gender - investing in militarism is still often understood as the only 'realistic' way of promoting security. Meanwhile, there is vast under-investment in addressing non-military threats to people's security, such as economic inequality, pandemics and climate change. Feminist researchers have sought to understand how militaristic ways of 'doing' security come to be accepted in this way, arguing that the cultural association of masculinity with militarism, domination and control plays a role in this process. Studies from the United States in the Cold War period have shown how policymakers perform their roles in gendered, racialised and classed ways, demonstrating that masculine organisational cultures can encourage policymakers to think in militaristic ways. While the field of national security in Europe and North America is no longer so dominated by white, middle-class men, few studies have re-examined these dynamics in security institutions in the present day, particularly outside the US context.The Bureaucracy of Militarism: Gender, Race and Class in the British Security State asks: what are the relationships between the gendered, racialised and classed organisational cultures in UK national security policymaking departments and their militaristic approaches to security policy? How might the gendered, racialised and classed character of organisational cultures in government departments help to sustain militaristic and colonial ways of thinking and speaking about security in policy discussions? To address this question, I interviewed officials in UK government departments and observed their meetings and everyday working practices, analysing policy discussions on counter-terrorism and on promoting gender equality in conflict management and peacebuilding. I argue that the linking of UK security practices to constructions of middle-class, white masculinity and femininity plays a role in legitimising militaristic thinking. While the advancement of (mostly white, middle-class) women in national security has changed masculine organisational cultures to some extent, these changes have not significantly challenged government departments' militaristic worldviews. Furthermore, while security departments have sought to recruit more people of colour in order to promote 'diversity of thought' in policymaking, my research reveals how organisational norms make it difficult for officials to make anti-racist critiques of UK security policies. By illuminating the processes that shape national security policymaking, I contribute to anti-militarist and anti-colonial feminist thinking about how to unsettle those processes. My findings suggest that efforts to reimagine security governance in anti-militarist and anti-colonial ways must go beyond diversity initiatives and transform the gendered, racialised and classed norms, relations and structures that underpin militarism.The Bureaucracy of Militarism makes a unique contribution to understanding the social and cultural life of UK national security policymaking. Building on my doctoral thesis, the fellowship will enable me to develop the research into a book and a series of articles, and to share my findings with policymakers as well as academics, NGOs and thinktanks working on peace and security. In doing so, I hope to inform efforts to develop approaches to safety and security that are more just and peaceful, and that respond to the needs of ordinary people.

无论哪个政党执政，历届英国政府在国家安全问题上都采取了严重依赖使用武力或以武力相威胁的做法。尽管有证据表明，海外军事干预、严厉的治安和侵入式的监视制度会破坏普通人的安全——尤其是那些因种族、阶级和/或性别而被边缘化的人——但投资军国主义仍然经常被理解为促进安全的唯一“现实”方式。与此同时，在解决经济不平等、流行病和气候变化等对人民安全的非军事威胁方面，投资严重不足。女权主义研究人员试图理解军国主义的“做”安全的方式是如何以这种方式被接受的，他们认为，在这个过程中，男性气概与军国主义、统治和控制的文化联系发挥了作用。来自冷战时期美国的研究表明，决策者是如何以性别、种族化和阶级化的方式履行自己的角色的，这表明男性化的组织文化会鼓励决策者以军国主义的方式思考。虽然欧洲和北美的国家安全领域不再由白人中产阶级男性主导，但很少有研究重新审视当今安全机构中的这些动态，特别是在美国以外的背景下。《军国主义的官僚主义：英国安全国家中的性别、种族和阶级》问：英国国家安全决策部门的性别、种族化和阶级化的组织文化与他们的军国主义安全政策方法之间的关系是什么？政府部门组织文化的性别化、种族化和阶级化特征如何有助于维持军国主义和殖民主义的思维方式，并在政策讨论中谈论安全？为了解决这个问题，我采访了英国政府部门的官员，观察了他们的会议和日常工作做法，分析了有关反恐和在冲突管理与建设和平中促进性别平等的政策讨论。我认为，将英国安全实践与中产阶级、白人男性和女性气质的建构联系起来，在使军国主义思想合法化方面发挥了作用。虽然（主要是白人中产阶级）女性在国家安全领域的进步在一定程度上改变了男性化的组织文化，但这些变化并没有显著挑战政府部门的军国主义世界观。此外，虽然安全部门试图招募更多的有色人种，以促进政策制定中的“思想多样性”，但我的研究揭示了组织规范如何使官员难以对英国的安全政策提出反种族主义批评。通过阐明影响国家安全政策制定的过程，我为反军国主义和反殖民主义的女权主义者思考如何扰乱这些过程做出了贡献。我的研究结果表明，以反军国主义和反殖民方式重新构想安全治理的努力必须超越多样性倡议，并改变支撑军国主义的性别化、种族化和阶级化的规范、关系和结构。《军国主义的官僚主义》对理解英国国家安全决策的社会和文化生活做出了独特的贡献。在我的博士论文的基础上，该奖学金将使我能够将研究发展成一本书和一系列文章，并与政策制定者以及从事和平与安全工作的学者、非政府组织和智库分享我的发现。在这样做的过程中，我希望为制定更加公正与和平的安全和保障办法的努力提供信息，并对普通人的需要作出反应。

项目成果

Critical Ethnography in National Security Institutions: Methodological and Ethical Reflections

国家安全机构中的批判民族志：方法论和伦理反思

• DOI: 10.1017/s1049096522000762
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: Political Science & Politics
• 作者: Wright H