Troops for Teachers: Militainment and Education as Recruitment

Document Type

Presentation

Presentation Date

4-2013

Abstract or Description

Presentation given at the American Educational Research Association Meeting.

Objectives /Purpose:

This paper discusses the general and overall militarization of society particularly focusing on various forms of media (film, television advertising, video games and others) and its connections with the military. The paper demonstrates that there is an historical and purposeful connection between the entertainment industry and the military complex. One of the current manifestations of that connection is the ever-increasing efforts at recruitment for the all- volunteer armed services in the time of perpetual war. This analysis of the present historical moment, recruitment and the resultant militarization of schools and universities will have three major purposes. The paper will provide:
1. A critical, historical look at the current milieu and the ways in which militarization is an ever-increasing phenomenon within our postmodern global culture.
2. An investigation the intrusion of the military into schools and universities and the ways in which these are manifested.
3. A critical media perspective is employed to analyze the various popular culture methods used by the military for the recruitment of students in secondary schools and universities.
Perspective/Theoretical Framework:
This work is theoretical research. Critical theory and cultural studies are the primary theoretical perspectives employed in the research.

Methods:
A bricolage of methods is used. Methods of critical theory, critical media analysis and cultural studies are applied. The research has as its major focus the analysis of the politics of education and the military.

Data Sources:
Various data sources are analyzed. Current media (film, television commercials, and video games) are explicated. Recruitment strategies used in public school and universities will also provide sources for analysis.

Results and Conclusions:
Conclusions drawn in this work will focus on the ever-increasing efforts on the part of the military to use the schools and universities as military-friendly sites and places for increased efforts at recruitment. The recruitment of youth into the military and ties to militainment will be demonstrated. Recruitment and the militarization of education will be placed with the larger global phenomenon of militarization.

Sponsorship/Conference/Institution

American Educational Research Association Conference (AERA)

Location

San Francisco, CA

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