The black citizen-subject

Black single mothers in US military recruitment material

Bibliographic Data

ID2147257
AuthorsWendy M Christensen, Wendy Christensen (0000-0002-5031-0352, William Paterson University, corresponding author)
Year2016
Volume39
Issue14
Pages2508-2526
Publication date2016-11-13
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueEthnic and Racial Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0141-9870 • E-ISSN: 1466-4356
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/01419870.2016.1160139
OpenAlexW2312570786
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited27

This article examines how the US military uses race inequalities to mobilize black single mothers for enlistment of their children in the Armed Forces. Through an analysis of military recruitment materials during the height of the US War on Terrorism, I demonstrate how the military disproportionately shows black single mothers going through a process of reacting to their child's enlistment (with fear and worry), welcoming the military institution as the co-parent, and accepting enlistment as a venue for education and career opportunities (productive citizenship). The military models a citizen-mother who supports their child's enlistment, while unquestionably supporting the war. This exploits the obligations of citizenship for black single mothers, whose citizenship is already under scrutiny. By targeting the children of these mothers for recruitment, the military encourages a higher burden of military participation on an already underprivileged segment of the population

Citizenship · Criminology · Institution · Military operations other than war · Military sociology · Political science · Population · Scrutiny · Sociology · Spanish Civil War · Subject (documents · Worry · Demography · Gender Studies · Gender, Security, and Conflict · Law · Migration, Health and Trauma · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Psychology

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