Frontline : combat and cohesion in the twenty-first century / edited by Anthony King.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

King, Anthony, editor.

United States. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, issuing body.

Series:

Fact Sheet

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United States. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives--Rules and practice.

United States.

Unit cohesion (Military science).

Combat.

Sociology, Military.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (376 p.)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2015.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In the last few decades, Western ground troops have been involved in intense close-quarters fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan on a scale not seen since the Vietnam and Korean wars. As a consequence, a unique, if disturbing, archive of data has emerged concerning the behaviour of soldiers on operations, in combat, or preparing for combat. This volume draws together historians, social, and political scientists in order to analyse how professional Western forces have sought to generate unit cohesion and how they have performed on operations and in combat.

Contents:

""Cover""; ""Frontline: Combat and Cohesion in the Twenty-First Century""; ""Copyright""; ""Acknowledgements""; ""Contents""; ""List of Figures""; ""List of Tables""; ""List of Contributors""; ""Part I: Concepts""; ""1: On Cohesion""; ""Introduction""; ""Classical Cohesion""; ""Beyond the Primary Group Thesis""; ""The Historic Origins of the Performative Paradigm""; ""Historical Cohesion""; ""Conclusion""; ""Notes""; ""2: Subaltern Soldiers: Eurocentricism and the Nation-State in the Combat Motivation Debates""; ""Military Sociology and the Combat Motivation Debates""

""Culture and Military Discipline: Sikhs, Chinese, and Humans""""Politics, Obedience, and Violence: Germans, Danes, and Luxembourgers""; ""Towards a Non-Eurocentric Military Sociology""; ""Notes""; ""3: Killing and Cohesion in Close Combat: Contexts and Concepts from the First World War to the Present""; ""Introduction""; ""Interpreting Combat""; ""Cohesion and Killing""; ""Conclusion""; ""Notes""; ""Part II: Current Debates""; ""4: From a Sociology of Units to a Sociology of Combat Formations: Militaries and Cohesion in Urban Combat""; ""Urban Environments: Three Sociological Questions""

""A Sociology and Psychology of Contemporary Urban Warfare""""Towards a Sociology of Combat Formations in Cities""; ""Sociological Bubbles: Dispersion, Communication, and Autonomy""; ""Ad Hoc Units, Swift Trust, and Cohesion""; ""Transitions""; ""Conclusion: Special Forcification?""; ""Notes""; ""5: Discipline and Punish: Encouraging Combat Performance in the Citizen and Professional Army""; ""Introduction""; ""Discipline in the Citizen Army""; ""Discipline in the Professional Army""; ""Conclusion""; ""Notes""; ""Part III: Historical Experience""

""6: Combat and Cohesion in the Early Twentieth Century: Strengthening the Inverted Pyramid""""The Technological Crisis""; ""The Social Crisis""; ""Unity of Action""; ""Psychological Resilience""; ""Conclusion""; ""Notes""; ""7: Re-evaluating Combat Cohesion: The British Second Army in the Northwest Europe Campaign of the Second World War""; ""Combat Cohesion""; ""Defining Morale""; ""Assessment of Morale""; ""Quantitative Assessment of Morale""; ""In Search of a Theory to Explain Combat Cohesion: The Case of British Second Army in Northwest Europe""; ""Combat Cohesion and Strategy""

""Conclusion""""Notes""; ""Part IV: Case Studies""; ""8: New Model Diggers: Australian Identity, Motivation, and Cohesion in Afghanistan""; ""The Changing Face of the Digger""; ""Australians in Afghanistan""; ""Upholding the Traditions of the Anzacs""; ""'Don't Knock Off until the Job is Done': Motivation and Cohesion""; ""Team Australia?""; ""Golfing in the Green Zone""; ""The Digger as Victim""; ""Conclusion""; ""Notes""; ""9: A Profession of Love: Cohesion in a British Platoon in Afghanistan""; ""Introduction""; ""Waterloo Day Contact: Drills and Training""

""Sarwan Qala: Combat, Emotions, and the Profession of Love""

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9780191788680

0191788686

9780191030390

0191030392

OCLC:

1228910263