ABSTRACT

This book examines the politics of military families in relation to the tensions between the state, military organization, and private life.

It elaborates on the tensions between the advent of challenging worldwide deployment for the military and the prominence of the home front. The volume aims to understand the dynamics of conflict and change within triad figurations at the macro (society), meso (organizational), and micro (family) level and is guided by the following overarching research questions:

  • What are the key issues in the three-party dynamics?
  • What tensions exist in these dynamics?
  • How do actors seek to arrive at a balance? What initiatives for change are made?

With contributions from international scholars, who examine the workings of politics in military families at all three levels, the book argues that members within military families deal with shifting power balances and these are impacted by demands from organizations and the state.

This book will be of much interest to students of military studies, sociology, organizational studies and politics.

part I|83 pages

The state, the Armed Forces, and the rise of the negotiation household

chapter 1|16 pages

Introduction

The politics of military families and the rise of the negotiation household—tensions between state, work, and families

chapter 2|14 pages

Invisibilized invisible

Third-party symbolic violence and the partial militarization of UK military spouses/partners

chapter 3|12 pages

Dealing with condemnation

Military families and transitional justice in Argentina

chapter 5|10 pages

The military–family industry

The role of the family in the construction and development of the military profession

chapter 6|16 pages

New families in the IDF

Toward diversity in family policies

part II|146 pages

Organization, soldier, and military family

chapter 7|18 pages

I just want to be done with it!

Estonian conscripts negotiating the tensions between military, family, and personal agendas

chapter 10|14 pages

“Happy wife, happy soldier”

How the relationship between military spouses and the military institution influences spouse well-being

chapter 11|17 pages

Balancing act

The demands of family, military service, and civilian employment for reservists

chapter 14|13 pages

Who emotionally contained the deployed military?

Trends in the dependence of former Argentine peacekeepers on their families, Haiti, 2004–2015

chapter 15|20 pages

Standing strong in the context of organizational and family demands

A measure of USAF civilian spouse fitness 1

part III|102 pages

Inside the negotiation household

chapter 16|20 pages

“In the cross-fire”: intimate partner violence in military families

A narrative review and implications for the military organization 1

chapter 18|16 pages

What happens on-board stays on-board?

The political game of communication between deployed military personnel and their loved ones

chapter 19|14 pages

Single parents in the Canadian Armed Forces

The impact of military life on psychological distress

chapter 20|14 pages

The life situation of military fathers

Perspectives of family planning and fatherhood of officers in the Austrian Armed Forces

chapter 21|13 pages

Boots and bottles

Navigating the triumphs and challenges of early childhood in military families

chapter 22|9 pages

Epilogue: dating from a distance

Love and separation in a networked society