Journal of Political & Military Sociology

Contributors

JPMS Editors — 2025-02-18

Notes on contributors to volume 51, number `1 of the Journal of Political & Military Sociology.

The Raj at War: A People's History of India's Second World War by Yasmin Khan

Dipin Kaur — 2025-02-18

Review of: The Raj at War: A People’s History of India’s Second World War by Yasmin Khan. Haryana, India: Penguin Random House India, 2016. (432 pages)

Inclusion in the American Military: A Force for Diversity (2nd ed.) by Morten G. Ender, Ryan Kelty, David E. Rohall, and Michael D. Matthews.

Harlan Kefalas — 2025-02-18

Review of: Inclusion in the American Military: A Force for Diversity, 2nd edition, edited by Morten G. Ender, Ryan Kelty, David E. Rohall, and Michael D. Matthews. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2023. (303 pages)

A Relational Ethics of Immigration: Hospitality and Hostile Environments by Dan Bulley

Carlotta Minnella — 2025-02-18

Review of: A Relational Ethics of Immigration: Hospitality and Hostile Environments by Dan Bulley. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2024. (193 pages)

Non-Aligned Movement Summits: A History by Jovan Čavoški

Rohan Mukherjee — 2025-02-18

Review of: Non-Aligned Movement Summits: A History by Jovan Čavoški. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2022. (312 pages)

Sociological Considerations on Organized Violence

Valeria Rosato — 2025-02-18

At the end of the Cold War, a lively public and academic debate arose on the nature of contemporary armed conflicts, their transformations, and their supposed novelty compared to previous wars. Numerous definitions were coined to mark these changes: ethnic, predatory, criminal, postmodern, hybrid, asymmetric, etc. By analysing a long-term model based on the historical dynamics of organised violence developed by the sociologist Malešević, we seek to show that the exponential growth of bureaucratic and ideological apparatuses within modern societies are at the root of the steady increase in organised violence, and consequently that the phenomenon of war, as the case of the Russian-Ukrainian war demonstrates, has not undergone such radical transformations as to justify any paradigm shift.

I Am No Man

Christina C. Gregory — 2025-02-18

In 2013, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta removed the ban on women serving in combat roles in the US military. This policy decision effectively opened all positions in the military to women. Decades of scholarship inform us that military service leads to long-term socioeconomic benefits, but this research has focused on male veterans. This earning advantage holds true for all male veterans but is more significant for racial minority groups. As the original equal-pay institution, the military has long been an attractive option for women on their career path, and today female enlistment rates are rising faster than any other group. This study analyzes how military service affects women who elect to serve, across several economic and social variables, and how that has evolved for different cohorts of female service members. Conducting regression analysis on multiple census data sets, we find that women who join the military gain significant long-term socioeconomic benefits in comparison to their civilian counterparts, that military service affects social variables including marriage, and that these effects are stable over time.

Be All You Already Are

Morten Brænder — 2025-02-18

In the wake of the War in Ukraine, the need for Armed Forces organizations to focus on recruitment and retainment and to attract, educate and maintain their future leaders has reentered the agenda. As organizational identification is known to strengthen retainment, this study examines antecedents of military identification, focusing on the role of intrinsic motivation and military socialization. Thus, through cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of a unique dataset with Danish cadets, we show, first, a close link between intrinsic motivation and military identification. Second, while military socialization seems to play a role, we also find that the difference that can be ascribed to intrinsic motivation remains: Regardless of the method of analysis pursued, strongly motivated cadets just identify stronger with the military. These findings have obvious recruitment implementations and should also give rise to considerations regarding the Armed Forces’ prioritization of retainment initiatives.

China’s Belt and Road Initiative

Terence Nicholas — 2025-02-18

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is not debt trap diplomacy; rather, it is an effort by China to coalesce and capitalize on the sentiments of its participants who have expressed concurrence with China’s view of international relations. At a time when the dominant international relations narrative is being challenged, specifically by China, the BRI has provided China with an opportunity to obtain affirmation for its foreign interests and principles. This claim is made evident by evaluating, as metrics of geopolitical influence, United Nations resolutions representing China’s interests and how BRI participant nations voted on them, as well as official BRI statements that these nations have made regarding China’s foreign policy stances.