Description
By critically examining the research discourses on militarism in European security studies, we argue that the field risks normalising military development by merely assessing the operational outcomes of defence policies without considering ethical concerns about coercive capabilities and tools of organised violence. This is not only the case for the mainstream scholarship, which often addresses ‘questions of functionality’ such as improving military efficiency, achieving strategic objectives, and coordinating national defence policies. Most critical research also ask how military tools should be used rather than whether they should be used in the first place. However, we also recognise and discuss the recent examples of more direct and fundamental critiques of militarism in the field. To move beyond the normalisation of militarism in the field, we suggest a reflective approach that critically engages with the normative aspects of defence research. This approach also provides a response to recent calls for greater awareness of which research themes are prioritised in the broader field of European (security) studies and which debates are marginalised in this field.
