Zed Books Conscientious Objection: Resisting Militarized Society

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Conscientious ObjectionResisting Militarized SocietyBy Özgür Heval Çinar, Coskun ÜsterciZed Books LtdCopyright © 2009 Özgür Heval Çinar and Coskun ÜsterciAll rights reserved.ISBN: 978-1-84813-277-1ContentsAcknowledgements, vii, Preface | Cynthia Cockburn, viii, Introduction | Cogkun Üsterci and Özgür Heval Çinar, 1, ONE | Conscription and resisting conscription in a militarized society, 1 The militarization of society: conscription and national armies in the process of citizen creation | Suavi Aydin, 17, 2 Patriotism and the justification of inequality in the construction of militarism | Melek Göregenli, 37, 3 Refusing to serve by other means: desertion in the late Ottoman Empire | Erik-Jan Zürcher, 45, 4 Sand in the wheels? Conscientious objection at the turn of the twenty-first century | Ulrich Bröckling, 53, 5 The morals and politics of conscientious objection, civil disobedience and anti-militarism | Nilgün Toker Kilinf, 61, 6 The philosophical grounds of conscientious objection | Taha Parla, 73, TWO | Conscientious objection as a critique of patriarchy, sexism and heterosexism, 7 Where are the women in military conscientious objection? Some feminist clues | Cynthia Enloe, 81, 8 Refusing to identify as obedient wives, sacrificing mothers and proud warriors | Ayse Gül Altinay, 88, 9 Conscientious objection and masculine violence | Serpil Sancar, 105, 10 Rotten report and reconstructing hegemonic masculinity in Turkey | Alp Biricik, 112, THREE | Conscientious objection in the world: experiences and problems, 11 Experiences of conscientious objection movements: South Africa, Greece and Paraguay | Andreas Speck and Rudi Friedrich, 121, 12 Military conscription, conscientious objection and democratic citizenship in the Americas | Matthew C. Gutmann, 131, 13 Conscientious objection in Chile | Pelao Carvallo, 145, 14 Conscientious objection in Spain: disobedience | Cthuchi Zamarra, 149, 15 Conscientious objection in Israel | Tali Lerner, 156, 16 Refusing to serve in the army for reasons of conscience in Greece | Alexia Tsouni and Michalis Maragakis, 160, 17 Conscientious objection in Turkey | Cogkun Usterci and Ugur Yorulmaz, 168, FOUR | Conscientious objection and law, A International law, 18 A view on international implementation of the right to conscientious objection | Ozgür Heval Çinar, 183, 19 International standards on conscientious objection to military and alternative service | Rachel Brett, 198, 20 European standards on conscientious objection and alternative service | Friedhelm Schneider, 206, 21 Conscientious objection in international law and the Osman Murat Ülke case | Kevin Boyle, 212, B The case of Turkey, 22 Conscientious objection and the Turkish constitution | Osman Can, 227, 23 The criminality of conscientious objection in Turkey and its consequences | Hülya Üçpinar, 242, Notes on contributors, 257, Index, 259, CHAPTER 1The militarization of society: conscription and national armies in the process of citizen creationSUAVI AYDIN§ Conscription and the 'army of the masses' are relatively new historical phenomena. Appearing in Europe for the first time as an important tool in the processes of citizen creation in nation-states, this phenomenon hit other countries' agenda towards the end of the eighteenth century, progressively establishing the system whereby each male of a certain age group gets conscripted. In this respect, the system made possible both the establishment of giant armies and the popularization of 'national consciousness' to a large mass of people via a large uneducated segment of society.Conscription and the army of the masses were at the same time necessitated by a new kind of war – total war – that came about owing to the technological transformation underpinning the industrial society and the bourgeois society's desire for economical-political expansion. Total war also meant that the masses assumed to form the nation were to become so