Description
The United States is a recurrent object of study in the literature on militarism and militarization, either because of its extensive military apparatus, the widespread appreciation of military ideals and their effects on the structure of society, or the intense military engagement abroad, especially in the context of post-9/11 military interventions. Considering recent domestic events in the country, such as the strengthening of extreme right-wing groups during Trump’s administration and the Capitol’s invasion in 2021, this article builds a dialogue between the debates on militarism and militarization in the United States and the phenomenon of the growth of far-right militias. To the extent that high levels of civilian control do not mean control over militarization, our objective in this article is to delve not only into the formation and performance of extreme right-wing militias in the US, but mainly to question the extent to which they can be understood as a consequence of the intensification of US militarization after 9/11. In this context, the proposal also aims to contribute to the discussion about the impacts of militarism on the American social fabric, expanding the analytical scope beyond the state and governmental dimension, which is more recurrent in the traditional literature on civil-military relations.
