Martialling Peace : How the Peacekeeping Myth Legitimises Warfare (Advances in Critical Military Studies)

Examines the mythology of the peacekeeper and how it functions to sustain militarism in global politics Offers novel conceptual framing of martial peace and the peacekeeper myth Critically examines common understandings of 'warfare' and 'peace' Provides new ways of thinking about liberal peace and 'peaceful' societies and the roles that academics, government and publics play in reproducing structural violences Builds on Howell's (2018) martial politics framework and offers important contributions to existing critical examinations of militarisation This is a not a book about peacekeeping practices. This is a book about storytelling, fantasies and the ways that people connect emotionally to myths about peacekeeping. The celebration of peacekeeping as a legitimate and desirable use of military force is expressed through the unproblematised acceptance of militarism. Introducing a novel framework martial peace the book offers an in-depth examination of the Canadian Armed Forces missions to Afghanistan and the use of police violence against Indigenous protests in Canada as case examples where military violence has been justified in the name of peace. It critically investigates the peacekeeper myth and challenges the academic, government and popular beliefs that martial violence is required to sustain peace.