When Finland gained its independence from Russia in 1917, the country had not had a military for almost two decades. The ensuing creation of a new national conscript army aroused intense but conflicting emotions among the Finns. This book examines how a modern conscript army, born out of a civil war, had to struggle through social, cultural and political minefields to find popular acceptance. Exploring the ways that images of manhood were used in the controversies, it reveals the conflicts surrounding compulsory military service in a democratic society and the compromises made as the new nation had to develop the will and skill to defend itself. Through the lens of masculinity, another picture of conscription emerges, offering new understandings of why military service was resisted and supported, dreaded and celebrated in Finnish society. Intertwined with the story of the making of the military runs the story of how manhood was made and remade through the idealized images and real-life experiences of conscripted soldiers. Placing interwar Finland within a broad European context, the book traces the origins of competing military traditions and ideological visions of modern male citizenship back to their continental origins. It contributes to the need for studies on the impact of the Great War on masculinities and constructions of gender among military cultures in the peacetime period between the two world wars.

This handbook provides a comprehensive, interdisciplinary overview of key theoretical and analytical approaches, topics and debates in contemporary scholarship on African masculinities. Refusing to privilege Western theoretical constructs (but remaining in dialogue with them), contributors explore the contestations around and diversities within men, masculinities and sexualities in Africa; investigate individual and collective practices of masculinity; and interrogate the social construction of masculinities. Bringing together insights from scholars across gender studies, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, history, literature and religion, this book demonstrates how recognizing and upholding the integrity of African phenomena, locating and reflecting on men and masculinities in varied African contexts and drawing new theoretical frameworks all combine to take the discourse on men and masculinities in Africa forward. Chapters examine a range of issues within the context of masculinities, including embodiment, sport, violence, militarism, spirituality, gender roles, fatherhood, homosexuality, health and work. This handbook will be valuable reading for scholars, researchers, and policymakers in Gender Studies (particularly Masculinity Studies) and Africana Studies.

Conscription is seen as forming a site and an issue-area around which different identities are struggled over and core political relations established in a security-related context. The unravelling of conscription thus unavoidably pertains to a set of essential ideational issues and has significance far beyond the military sphere. The contributors to this book explore the more profound issues such as the meaning of conscription in the context of the increasingly feeble relationship between the state and the nation. The analysis relates the question of changes or lack of change in recruitment to broader social, political and cultural issues, thereby breaking new ground. Attention not only focuses on what the military manpower systems do, but also on what they represent. As such, conscription has meaning far beyond the sphere of military affairs.

This volume deconstructs the traditional stereotypes of military identity and makes a strong case for a plurality of identities within a range of theoretical and empirical contexts.

A highly comprehensive ethnographic analysis, Resilience and Familism demonstrates in a specifically Filipino context how strong familial ties can affect inner strength and outer determination.

The creation of Finland's national conscription army in the wake of its independence from Russia in 1917 aroused intense but conflicting emotions. This book examines the struggles of a new army to find popular acceptance and support, and explores the ways that images of manhood were used in the controversies. Ahlbäck places the situation of interwar Finland within a broad European context to reveal the conflicts surrounding compulsory military service and the impact of the Great War on masculinities and constructions of gender.

Exploring sexuality in the twenty-first century, this unique book collects together more than fifty timely and accessible contributions to create a wide-ranging and compelling picture of contemporary American sexuality. Incorporating the latest cutting-edge controversies, theory and methodological material from the major domains of sexual education, sexual health, sexual rights, and globalization, this book includes a superb editorial overview that opens up the field for students and teachers alike. This anthology will be an invaluable supplement to all levels of students and researchers interested in sexuality across a range of disciplines, including anthropology, sociology, gender and sexuality studies and politics.

What we know of the marked body in nineteenth-century American literature and culture often begins with The Scarlet Letter's Hester Prynne and ends with Moby Dick's Queequeg. This study looks at the presence of marked men and women in a more challenging array of canonical and lesser-known works, including exploration narratives, romances, and frontier novels. Jennifer Putzi shows how tattoos, scars, and brands can function both as stigma and as emblem of healing and survival, thus blurring the borderline between the biological and social, the corporeal and spiritual. Examining such texts as Typee, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Captivity of the Oatman Girls, The Morgesons, Iola Leroy, and Contending Forces, Putzi relates the representation of the marked body to significant events, beliefs, or cultural shifts, including tattooing and captivity, romantic love, the patriarchal family, and abolition and slavery. Her particular focus is on both men and women of color, as well as white women-in other words, bodies that did not signify personhood in the nineteenth century and thus by their very nature were grotesque. Complicating the discourse on agency, power, and identity, these texts reveal a surprisingly complex array of representations of and responses to the marked body--some that are a product of essentialist thinking about race and gender identities and some that complicate, critique, or even rebel against conventional thought.

An authoritative compilation of military history quotes from 2000 BC to the present day. 'A massive compilation casting light not only upon the pain, suffering and sheer insanity of war, but also upon the unique comradeship and exhilaration of battle... this is a valuable addition to the literature of reference.' - The Spectator Peter Tsouras brings 4,000 years of military history to life through the words of more than 800 soldiers, commanders, military theorists and commentators on war. Quotes by diverse personalities – Napoleon, Machiavelli, Atatürk, 'Che' Guevara, Rommel, Julius Caesar, Wellington, Xenophon, Crazy Horse, Wallenstein, T.E. Lawrence, Saladin, Zhukov, Eisenhower and many more – sit side by side to build a comprehensive picture of war across the ages. Broken down into more then 480 categories, covering courage, danger, failure, leadership, luck, military intelligence, tactics, training, guerrilla warfare and victory, this definitive guide draws on the collected wisdom of those who have experienced war at every level. From the brutality and suffering of war, to the courage and camaraderie of soldiers, to the glory and exhilaration of battle, these quotes offer an insight into the turbulent history of warfare and the lives and deeds of great warriors.