Warrior Nation

In the first episode of our second series, we talk about Armed Forces Day with Symon Hill of the Peace Pledge Union, the pacifist campaigning organisation.

We discuss the context in which the annual event came into existence in 2009, how it works to market armed forces recruitment and the military more generally and promote arms companies, and the issues it raises about the normalisation of weapons and violence. Should Armed Forces Day be changed into Public Sector Workers Day or is the herofication of certain workers problematic and unhelpful to their interests.

We also discuss pinkwashing and arms industry exemption from Covid restrictions, and how militarism - preparing for war - is unable to respond to the human security threats that societies face.

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More information & resources
The Peace Pledge Union on Armed Forces Day
https://www.ppu.org.uk/militarism/armed-forces-day

Film - War School: the Battle for Britain's Children
https://www.war.school/

Resource pack - Take Action on Militarism
https://www.forceswatch.net/takeaction/

Webinar - Mobilising the Crisis: Covid-19 and the UK military
https://youtu.be/rM5MhTdeZYk

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For the finale of our first podcast season, we spoke to political hip hop artist Lowkey about war, militarism, the current political climate, and our hopes and prospects for the future. The event was recorded in front of a live audience at Housmans Bookshop in London on 4 December and co-hosted with peace activist Maya Evans. The music in this podcast is from Hand On Your Gun by Lowkey.

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We talk to ForcesWatch’s founders David Gee and Emma Sangster, about recruitment and militarism in the UK and some of ForcesWatch’s key outputs over the years. Join us as we discuss: 

• How and why ForcesWatch began
• The lack of ‘informed choice’ in the military’s enlistment of minors
• How we define militarism
• How militaristic the UK is compared to other countries, and why
• Turning war into spectacle
• The long-term risks and harms of the military’s recruitment of minors
• Military training - turning young civilians into soldiers
• The international context of the UK’s recruitment of minors
• Military (and wider defence industry) influence in education
• The ‘Take Action on Militarism’ resource

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We talk to academics Vron Ware and Antonia Dawes about their ongoing project with Mitra Pariyar: a two-year study of an army town in Wiltshire. We discuss why and how significant policy changes over the last ten years are changing the relationship between military and civilian communities, and the impacts of relocating thousands of soldiers from Germany to newly expanded ‘super-garrisons’ in rural England. Join us as we discuss:

• What led Vron and Antonia into studying military affairs
• Commonwealth recruits or 'military migrants'
• What their ‘Military in our Midst’ project entails
• What is behind the Army Basing programme
• What it’s like for civilians to live in an Army town
• Divisions between ranks and between personnel and civilians
• The potential impacts for personnel and their families relocating from Germany
• The environmental impacts of the ‘super-garrison’ 
• Barriers in their research, and personal highlights

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We talk to satirical artist Darren Cullen about what led him away from a career in advertising and into a career producing political art. He uses the language of advertising to make work about the empty promises of consumerism and the lies of military recruiters. Join us as we discuss:

• Military recruitment advertising
• The backlash of criticising the ‘sacred’ military institution  
• Going ‘one step further’ than advertising messages
• His work at the permanent collection in the Victoria & Albert Museum 
• His ‘Action Man: Battlefield Casualties’ video series produced with Veterans for Peace, and voiced by Matt Berry
• His support for the campaign to raise the minimum age of military recruitment to 18
• The insidious power of advertising
• The British military’s sinister toy range
• Military links with the film and video game industries
• Working hard to annoy Shell and other oil companies
• Trying to stop the DSEI arms fair
• The upcoming ‘Art the Arms Fair’ art exhibition

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We are joined by Dr Victoria Basham, a reader in International Relations at Cardiff University and President of the European International Studies Association.  Her research focuses on issues of gender, race, class and sexuality in relation to militaries, militarism and militarisation. She is editor of the Critical Military Studies (CMS) journal and a pioneering figure in the field. 

Our wide-ranging discussion looks at:

• The unique insights early career access to the military has given her
• How military personnel have often led the struggle for dignity and equality, and the struggles they face within the British military institution
• The origins of Critical Military Studies and what it brings to the study of war and security
• Battening down the hatches - how the military has recently made it harder for civilian academics to conduct research
• How the military instrumentalises armed forces kids and wounded veterans 
• WW2 in memory - how narrative is shaped and why, and what is excluded such as colonialism and inequality

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In the wake of the Court of Appeal ruling that UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia are illegal given war crimes in Yemen, we talk to expert Andrew Feinstein about his life exposing the global sale of arms. We pull apart the nature of this trade, discuss some little known facts about it and consider how it is perceived and portrayed in British society.

Join us as we discuss:

• The corruption and power of the global arms trade
• Andrew Feinstein's journey - what drove him to do this work?
• How the arms trade is culturally depicted and widely perceived
• Connections between the arms trade, government, universities, industry and civil society
• Looking ahead - what hope is there in challenging the global arms trade?

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In our opening episode we talk to academic Professor Paul Dixon about his research into the British military’s efforts to militarise society, encroach on democracy and shape public attitudes to war and defence. We look at the ideas behind our joint 2018 ‘Warrior Nation’ report, from which our new podcast takes its name, in an effort to understand exactly how the military has sought to shape its relationship to society. 

Join us as we discuss:

• The ‘militarisation offensive’ post the Iraq and Afghanistan wars
• Why the military began to encroach on democracy
• The political character of the British military
• Militarism of the political Left, Right and Centre
• How the military exploits soldiers’ deaths with the ‘sacrifice trap’
• How generals spread a new ‘stab in the back’ theory reminiscent of 1930s Germany
• The relationship between militarism and recruitment and gathering support for future wars 
  
  Sound and editing mastered by Nate Bethea @HellOfAWay @TrashFuturePod @Lions_Buyer 

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