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2020 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

(Dis-)Empowered Military Masculinities? Recruitment of Veterans by PMSCs Through YouTube

Authors : Jutta Joachim, Andrea Schneiker

Published in: Social Media and the Armed Forces

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

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Abstract

State militaries are a central, but not the only site for the construction of military masculinities. In this chapter, we examine how Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs), which increasingly provide security-related services to armed forces and recruit former military employees, partake in the construction of these masculinities through their social media use. Based on a qualitative content analysis of the YouTube recruitment videos aimed primarily at veterans by two major U.S.-based companies – DynCorp International and CACI – we illustrate how these PMSCs, while affirming traditional notions of military masculinity, challenge its traditional meaning as well by fashioning the rival ideal of the ‘corporate soldier’. In addition to upgrading the otherwise marginalised masculinities of veterans by allowing them to be hero warriors, disabled, and civilian employees all at the same time, this ideal also boosts the corporate masculinity of these companies and enables them to define themselves as both legitimate contractors and superior security providers.

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previous chapter Managing Femininity Through Visual Embodiment: The Portrayal of Women on the Instagram Accounts of the Swedish and the Swiss Armed Forces
next chapter The Importance of Discussions on Social Media for the Armed Forces
Footnotes
1
See Schneiker et al. (2018), Shim and Stengel (2017), Geis and Schlag (2017), Bjerg-Jensen (2014).
 
2
For exceptions, see, for example, Jester (2019), Shim and Stengel (2017).
 
3
See also: Stiehm (1989), Enloe (1983), Kronsell (2005), Morgan (1994).
 
4
See also: Cornwall and Lindisfarne (1994), Higate and Henry (2016), Petersen (2003).
 
5
See, for example, Higate (2003, 2007), Higate and Hopton (2004), Hockey (2002), Padilla and Riege Laner (2002).
 
6
See also: Bailey and Telford (2007), Hans et al. (2011), Loureiro and Ribeiro (2014).
 
7
See also Devereux (2017), Boateng and Okoe (2015).
 
8
See, for example, Gareis et al. (2006), Tomforde (2010), Johansen et al. (2014).
 
9
See, for example, Strand and Berndtsson (2015), Levy et al. (2007), Eighmey (2006), Joachim et al. (2018).
 
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Metadata
Title
(Dis-)Empowered Military Masculinities? Recruitment of Veterans by PMSCs Through YouTube
Authors
Jutta Joachim
Andrea Schneiker
Copyright Year
2020
Book
Social Media and the Armed Forces

Print ISBN: 978-3-030-47510-9

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-030-47511-6

Copyright Year: 2020

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-47511-6_6