Masculinities, Militarisation and the End Conscription Campaign

Masculinities, militarisation and the End Conscription Campaign explores the gendered dynamics of apartheid-era South Africa's militarisation, analysing the defiance of compulsory military service by individual white men and the anti-apartheid activism of the white men and women in the End Conscription Campaign (ECC). The ECC was the most significant white anti-apartheid social movement in South Africa. Military conscription and objection to it are conceptualised as gendered acts of citizenship and premised on and constitutive of masculinities.Analysing the interconnections between militarisation, sexuality, race, homophobia and political authoritarianism, Conway draws upon a range of materials and disciplines to produce this socio-political study. Sources include interviews with white men who objected to military service in the South African Defence Force (SADF), archival material including military intelligence surveillance of the ECC, ECC campaigning material, press reports and pro-state propaganda. The analysis is informed by perspectives in sociology, international relations, history and from analysis of contemporary militarised societies such as Israel and Turkey.