2019 Enloe Award Essay Winner and Runner Up
Winner: Helpful heroes and the political utility of militarized masculinities
ABSTRACT
This article discusses how models of militarized masculinity can be mobilized to justify the use of violence internationally. I first trace a model of militarized masculinity – the “helpful hero” – that emerged during the Canadian military intervention in Afghanistan in 2001–2014. I demonstrate that this ideal type emerged from competing preferences for “warrior” or “peacekeeper” identities of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). The helpful hero model functioned to legitimize participation by the CAF in the Afghanistan War due to the positioning of soldiers as helpful, rather than as overtly aggressive or militaristic. I argue that the helpful hero ideal was not simply another ideal type of militarized masculinity, but also a symbolic trope that functioned politically to erase and obscure actual military violence. The article concludes by problematizing this model of militarized masculinity and noting the violent and imperial effects of war that cannot be seen when we imagine the military according to gendered mythologies.
Author Nicole Wegner (she/her/hers)
Runner Up: Narrating victimhood: dilemmas and (in)dignities
ABSTRACT
Feminist researchers are increasingly paying attention to the politics of victimhood during transitions from violence. In this article, I address the dilemmas of researching victimhood when the researcher herself is part of the production of its politics and hierarchies. Based on in-depth fieldwork in Colombia, I examine dilemmas related to (1) directing the research gaze during transitions from war; (2) investigating violence without requiring people to re-narrate harms suffered during armed conflict; (3) engaging with both voluntary and imposed silences; and (4) navigating the complicated tug of loyalties among conflict-affected actors. I argue that ethics and methods are inseparable from each other, from the findings of the research, and from the meaningful study of power and violence. Collectively, these insights contribute to an ongoing interdisciplinary conversation about power and politics in the study of violence.
Author Roxani C. Krystalli (she/her/hers)