Is it easy to kill in war? Emotions and violence in the combat zones of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina (1991-1995)

Dados Bibliográficos

ID4180765
AutoresSiniša Malešević (0000-0002-1864-6382, University College Dublin, autor correspondente)
Ano2020
Volume61
Fascículo2
Páginas301-331
Data de publicação2020-08-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoEuropean Journal of Sociology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0003-9756 • E-ISSN: 1474-0583
EditoraCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0003975620000132
OpenAlexW3092795053
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas2
Referências citadas23

The battlefields are spaces of death and destruction. In the combat zone soldiers fight and kill while witnessing the death of their comrades. These unprecedented life experiences are regularly shaped by strong emotional responses. In this paper I analyse the complex emotional dynamics of fighting and killing in the combat zone. I explore the war-time experiences of ordinary soldiers who fought in the 1991-1995 wars in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The paper is based on the interviews I conducted with the members of the Croatian Army and the Bosnian Serb Army who had direct experience of the battlefield. The focus is on the relationship between emotions and violence in the theatres of war with a spotlight on the personal experiences of fighting and killing. The paper challenges the existing interpretations of this phenomenon and argues that the killing in war is neither uniformly easy nor unvaryingly difficult but is context-dependent, variable and highly contingent. Furthermore, the acts of fighting and killing do not automatically trigger pre-existing and stable emotions but the violent processes themselves generate distinct emotional dynamics. Rather than simply following the violent actions emotions are in fact often made in the very acts of fighting and killing

Ancient history · Battlefield · Bosnia herzegovina · Bosnian · Context (archaeology) · Criminology · Epistemology · Phenomenon · Sociology · Balkans: History, Politics, Society · Gender, Security, and Conflict · History · Memory, Trauma, and Commemoration · Psychology · Social Psychology