The Ethnography of Things Military: Empathy and Critique in Military Anthropology

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

Standard

The Ethnography of Things Military : Empathy and Critique in Military Anthropology. / Mohr, Sebastian; Sørensen, Birgitte Refslund; Weisdorf, Matti.

In: Ethnos - Journal of Anthropology, Vol. 86, No. 4, 2021, p. 600-615.

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

Harvard

Mohr, S, Sørensen, BR & Weisdorf, M 2021, 'The Ethnography of Things Military: Empathy and Critique in Military Anthropology', Ethnos - Journal of Anthropology, vol. 86, no. 4, pp. 600-615. https://doi.org/10.1080/00141844.2019.1687553

APA

Mohr, S., Sørensen, B. R., & Weisdorf, M. (2021). The Ethnography of Things Military: Empathy and Critique in Military Anthropology. Ethnos - Journal of Anthropology, 86(4), 600-615. https://doi.org/10.1080/00141844.2019.1687553

Vancouver

Mohr S, Sørensen BR, Weisdorf M. The Ethnography of Things Military: Empathy and Critique in Military Anthropology. Ethnos - Journal of Anthropology. 2021;86(4):600-615. https://doi.org/10.1080/00141844.2019.1687553

Author

Mohr, Sebastian ; Sørensen, Birgitte Refslund ; Weisdorf, Matti. / The Ethnography of Things Military : Empathy and Critique in Military Anthropology. In: Ethnos - Journal of Anthropology. 2021 ; Vol. 86, No. 4. pp. 600-615.

Bibtex

@article{627ed238735a465698bb9d324dadd409,
title = "The Ethnography of Things Military: Empathy and Critique in Military Anthropology",
abstract = "Reflecting on the troubled relationship between anthropology and the military, we do so by discussing the underlying epistemological, methodological, and moral claims of the distinction between an anthropology of and an anthropology for the military. Through the term ethnography of things military, we propose to reposition military anthropology as intense engagements with militarisation through empathic immersion in things military. We develop this term through feminist critiques of militarisation and compassion, through discussions of critique and empathy as part of (critical) ethnographic scholarship, and through anthropological debates about the relationality of fieldwork and ethnographer-interlocutor relations. Suggesting that an ethnography of things military relies on empathic engagements with military lifeworlds, we argue that the relationship between empathy and critique in military anthropology should be understood as a continuous collaborative (and not always predictable) process of interrogating military lifeworlds{\textquoteright} frames of reference without necessarily sharing compassion or sympathy for them.",
keywords = "Faculty of Social Sciences, ethics, military anthropology, militarisation, fieldwork, sympathy",
author = "Sebastian Mohr and S{\o}rensen, {Birgitte Refslund} and Matti Weisdorf",
year = "2021",
doi = "10.1080/00141844.2019.1687553",
language = "English",
volume = "86",
pages = "600--615",
journal = "Ethnos",
issn = "0014-1844",
publisher = "Routledge",
number = "4",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - The Ethnography of Things Military

T2 - Empathy and Critique in Military Anthropology

AU - Mohr, Sebastian

AU - Sørensen, Birgitte Refslund

AU - Weisdorf, Matti

PY - 2021

Y1 - 2021

N2 - Reflecting on the troubled relationship between anthropology and the military, we do so by discussing the underlying epistemological, methodological, and moral claims of the distinction between an anthropology of and an anthropology for the military. Through the term ethnography of things military, we propose to reposition military anthropology as intense engagements with militarisation through empathic immersion in things military. We develop this term through feminist critiques of militarisation and compassion, through discussions of critique and empathy as part of (critical) ethnographic scholarship, and through anthropological debates about the relationality of fieldwork and ethnographer-interlocutor relations. Suggesting that an ethnography of things military relies on empathic engagements with military lifeworlds, we argue that the relationship between empathy and critique in military anthropology should be understood as a continuous collaborative (and not always predictable) process of interrogating military lifeworlds’ frames of reference without necessarily sharing compassion or sympathy for them.

AB - Reflecting on the troubled relationship between anthropology and the military, we do so by discussing the underlying epistemological, methodological, and moral claims of the distinction between an anthropology of and an anthropology for the military. Through the term ethnography of things military, we propose to reposition military anthropology as intense engagements with militarisation through empathic immersion in things military. We develop this term through feminist critiques of militarisation and compassion, through discussions of critique and empathy as part of (critical) ethnographic scholarship, and through anthropological debates about the relationality of fieldwork and ethnographer-interlocutor relations. Suggesting that an ethnography of things military relies on empathic engagements with military lifeworlds, we argue that the relationship between empathy and critique in military anthropology should be understood as a continuous collaborative (and not always predictable) process of interrogating military lifeworlds’ frames of reference without necessarily sharing compassion or sympathy for them.

KW - Faculty of Social Sciences

KW - ethics

KW - military anthropology

KW - militarisation

KW - fieldwork

KW - sympathy

U2 - 10.1080/00141844.2019.1687553

DO - 10.1080/00141844.2019.1687553

M3 - Journal article

VL - 86

SP - 600

EP - 615

JO - Ethnos

JF - Ethnos

SN - 0014-1844

IS - 4

ER -

ID: 236614819