McCormack, M. (2014) Citizen soldiers? Masculinity and politics in the Georgian Militia. Paper presented to: Leadership, Power and Masculinity: From Antiquity to the Contemporary World, University of London Institute in Paris, 06-07 September 2014. (Unpublished)
- Information
Information
Abstract:
This paper forcuses on a key military institution in eighteenth-century Britain - the New Militia - and argues that it was of fundamental political and social importance as well. The militia was the product of a republican political culture that distrusted 'standing armies' and instead placed its faith in armed citizens for home defence. As well as being safer (and cheaper) than professional armies, the militia was lauded in terms of masculinity and domestic feeling: a citizen soldier would be more motivated than a mercenary, as he was fighting for family, property and country. Indeed, the New Militia was formed during a panic about the state of the nation's men and morals in the Seven Years War. The resulting institution, however, was very different to this vision of citizen soldiers: effectively a conscript force drawn from the poor that was led by local elites, where military rank mirrored social and political standing. This paper therefore thinks about how far the idea of the 'citizen soldier' survived in practice in the militia between the 1750s and the 1810s. Looking at the life writings of privates and officers alike, it will explore political and national identities in terms of gender, suggesting that there is an important martial strain in political masculinities.
Uncontrolled Keywords:
Masculinity, soldiers, politics, citizenship, Britain
Subjects:
Creators:
McCormack, M.
Funders or Sponsors:
Sorbonne, Universite Paris I
Faculties, Divisions and Institutes:
Date:
6 September 2014
Date Type:
Presentation
Event Title:
Leadership, Power and Masculinity: From Antiquity to the Contemporary World
Event Dates:
06-07 September 2014
Event Location:
University of London Institute in Paris
Event Type:
Conference
Language:
English
Status:
Unpublished
Related URLs:
 |