Infrapolitics and role abeyance: How Irish military officers experience university

Starting in 1969, the Irish Defence Forces began to send its officers to attend civilian university in University College Galway as part of their professional formation, through the University Service Administrative Complement (USAC) scheme. Using a conceptual framework that combines role theory wit...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inIrish journal of sociology : IJS Vol. 29; no. 2; pp. 160 - 186
Main Author Gibson, Andrew G
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London, England SAGE Publications 01.08.2021
Sociological Association of Ireland, SAI Administrator, Dept of Sociology
Subjects
Alternative approaches
Armed forces
Colleges & universities
Full time
Higher education
Military officers
Role conflict
Role theory
Tactics
role theory
military education
higher education
infrapolitics
Socialisation
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Summary:Starting in 1969, the Irish Defence Forces began to send its officers to attend civilian university in University College Galway as part of their professional formation, through the University Service Administrative Complement (USAC) scheme. Using a conceptual framework that combines role theory with James C. Scott’s concept of ‘infrapolitics’, this paper interrogates how or whether full time, commissioned officers negotiate role tensions while attending civilian higher education as part of their professional military formation. Role theory would suggest that those who are expected to maintain two roles simultaneously, i.e. as student and military officer, would be expected to experience ‘role strain’. This paper illustrates instead that student officers deploy a variety of infrapolitical tactics and strategies, thus creating an alternative route to negotiating role tensions and anxiety.
ISSN:0791-6035
2050-5280
DOI:10.1177/07916035211005437