Description
This chapter presents the theoretical and methodological considerations as developed throughout my PhD research on the emerging German veteran’s movement. Firstly, I summarize the reading I developed of the veteran as a figure that can meaningfully aid in the study of security institutions such as the German military. This conceptualization builds on the analysis of the material collected through ethnographic and qualitative methods which I conducted with a theoretical focus on body, affect and vulnerability. Secondly, and building on other scholars looking into war as experience and embodied/ affective militarisms, I present this conceptualization and methodological approach as a response to the difficulties of studying security institutions, for example in terms of access. Thirdly, I reflect on the blind spots and pitfalls of this approach, especially in terms of taking seriously the interlocutors’ experiences and vulnerabilities while being mindful of reproducing hegemonic narratives around militarisms through a focus on body and vulnerabilities of personnel in Western Liberal Militaries – as well as ways to act within this discomfort.
