Culture and Combat in the Colonies

The Indian Army in the Second World War

Bibliographic Data

ID10074733
AuthorsTarak Barkawi (0000-0001-5526-5055, International Security, Centre of International Studies, University of Cambridge, Center for International Security and Cooperation, Stanford University, corresponding author)
Year2006
Volume41
Issue2
Pages325-355
Publication date2006-03-30
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Contemporary History (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-0094 • E-ISSN: 1461-7250
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0022009406062071
OpenAlexW2154218297
LanguageEN
Citations received13

This article critiques the Eurocentric character of debates over combat motivation and battlefield conduct. It compares two approaches to these topics, the societal and the organizational, with the experience of the Indian army and other British imperial forces in the second world war. Different ways of thinking about nationalism, culture and military service are assessed against the distinctive character of colonial forces. Rather than seeing culture as derived only from ethnic heritage, as in the societal approach, the article develops a cultural analysis of the regular military institution and the ways in which it transforms people from diverse backgrounds into soldiers. This argument attends both to what soldiers share and to hybrid fusions of local and military culture

Ancient history · Argument (complex analysis · Battlefield · Character (mathematics · Colonialism · Ethnic group · Institution · Military history · Military personnel · Military service · Military tactics · Nationalism · Political science · Politics · Social science · Sociology · Gender Studies · History · Indian History and Philosophy · Law · Military History and Strategy · South Asian Studies and Conflicts

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