Introduction: Brothers and Sisters in Arms

Abstract

s p r i n g 2 0 1 7 w i c a z o s a r e v i e w a round the world, the centenary of the First World War has accelerated what Jay Winter refers to as the memory boom of the twentieth century. Nations such as Australia, Canada, and New Zealand have invested significant taxpayer dollars into commemorations of the war, continuing processes of (falsely) positioning wartime service as central to each nation’s identity and development. In other nations, such as the United States, it is the Second World War that has led to similar mythologies about the goodness of the nation’s character and citizenry through ideas of “the Good War” and “the Greatest Generation.” Notwithstanding the criticisms of historians, war and conflict continue to form a central place within national collective memories. Being included within that memory is akin to being recognized as a member of the nationstate, with particular entitlements to be heard on matters of national or political importance. As military sociologists such as Morris Janowitz argue, minorities have often viewed military service as an opportunity to demonstrate acts of citizenship and, through such acts, to point to their military service in fights for civil and political rights. Scholars such as Warren Young and Ronald Krebs have debated the extent to which racial minorities may effectively leverage their position as service personnel or veterans to secure civil rights. Indeed, as both Young and Krebs argue, usually veteran or service member status alone is not enough to secure social change unless there are other catalysts within civil society that Introduction Brothers and Sisters in Arms