Culture at All Points, Including Militarism

Abstract

This article takes as a starting point a discussion of some theoretical and methodological issues that traverse Nancy Spalding’s account of civil war in Nigeria (Spalding, 2000), providing an opportunity to reflect on the way in which military conflict is approached by social scientists. I take issue with the ways of understanding ‘culture’ and ‘social order’ in the interpretation of military conflicts. If we engage in cultural description (rather than imposing a cultural theory) and we keep our eyes open for all the ways in which members produce social order (rather than taking social order as an ideal state that might fall apart), then the historical institutions involved in war become visible as cultural phenomena. The resulting analysis of war is grounded in the evidence available, and enhances the reflexive and critical responsibilities of the social sciences. I illustrate these points with a brief analysis of the public discourse that preceded the NATO bombings of Yugoslavia in 1999.