BISA 2025 Conference

Identity and belonging in the UK Armed Forces

TH 19

19 Jun 2025, 10:45

1h 30m

Panel Critical Military Studies Working Group

Description

This panel explores how the UK Armed Forces as an institution mediates and influences organisational identity and belonging amongst serving and/or veteran military personnel. The four speakers and the chair/discussant are all second and third year PhD students engaged in research which aims to contribute to the Critical Military Studies canon through several unique lenses: sports and disability, intersectionality and gender, and the concept of the ‘ideal’ service person. From both insider (veteran and Reservist) and outsider (academics who have never served) perspectives, the speakers will consider the ways in which the UK Armed Forces have shaped and continue to shape the identity and belonging of those who interact with and serve within the organisation.

Subcontributions

• Diversity and Belonging in the military context: Tensions and trade-offs with diversity policies in the UK Armed Forces, inhibitors of inclusion and belonging.
• Performative Veteranhood: The contentions between the young and the old, and the importance of visual identity and belonging to women veterans of the British Armed Forces.
• ‘All identities are equal, but some identities are more equal than others’ - How military institutions create a sense of lack within Servicepersons through internal ‘Ethos, Values and Standards’ policy.
• An exploration into female veterans’ experiences competing in sport after sustaining a disability and the impact this has on their sense of self-identity.