New forms of militarization: socialization by the military

Abstract

This paper seeks to expose a different phenomenon present in the region, to which I refer as the ‘socialization by the military’. Military socialization was previously defined as the values and practices assumed by the military. The ideas of obedience, hierarchy, order, uniformity, conservative values, and realism, were turned towards the society that from the military perspective was misguided (Gusterson and Besteman 2019; Jenne and Martínez 2021). “The armed forces no longer claim a direct hold on power but to a greater or lesser extent still ‘expect and seek to act’ in different areas of the state” (Jenne and Martínez 2021, 2). As a social institution, with a particular function that is forbidden to all the other members of society – the authorization to kill- the military had a special socialization process. As a part of the process of building a direct relation with society, Latin American armed forces open places to women in operational tasks. The inclusion of gender issues is a way to show a democratic culture and to became closer to female citizens.