International Prisoners for Peace Day has been celebrated on December 1st for years. The purpose of the day is to provoke conversation and commemorate peace prisoners with...
Military out of schools — not a common theme for War Resisters' International, although obviously an important issue. As this issue of The Broken Rifle shows, the militarisation of our education system — be it for the purpose of indoctrination of youth, or for the purpose of military recruitment — is an extremely important issue.
Countering the Militarisation of Youth is the theme of this issue of The Broken Rifle, just in time for our international study conference with the same title.
As I wrote in a guest editorial in Peace News back in 2002, to work effectively, we need to know our enemy, or what our enemy is doing, With enemy I mean the military, and I consciously call the military our enemy, knowing that within most nonviolent circles we are not supposed to have enemies.
"In Europe, and to some degree on a global level, there are presently two trends which both contribute to an increased militarisation of youth. The first is the end (or, more exactly, the suspension) of conscription in most European countries. The second is an increasing “normalisation of war” stemming from the 'war on terror and the use of military force as a means of politics. Both trends reinforce each other in strengthening the militarisation of youth from an early age- something we are committed to working against.”
The project, which includes an international meeting in Germany, and a post-conference publication, hopes to bringing together activists from all over the world.
War Resisters' International (WRI) works for a world without war. We are a global pacifist and antimilitarist network with over 80 affiliated groups in 40 countries.
On 23-29 November this year, activists from across the world are taking action against the militarisation of young people in their countries, cities and towns.
Join us this November in the International Week of Action Against the Militarisation of Youth with your own nonviolent actions and events!
Many people were involved in making this book. In addition to all the article contributors and translators, and the Countering the Militarisation of Youth conference interviewees, thanks to:
In order to relate militarisation and youth in Chile, we must look to the past and recognise the hundreds of years of militarism in the history of this region. Chile has seen territorial and violent occupations by European colonists, the construction of 'homeland heroes' as the core motivational idea behind patriotism, the legalisation of mandatory military training, huge increases in military spending as compared to social spending, the incorporation of military practices within civilian schools, among many other examples. The brunt of these actions has been born by the population’s most economically vulnerable group, but potentially the strongest in political terms: the country’s boys, girls and young adults. The vulnerability of this segment of the population has allowed it to be exposed to militarisation with ease; potential pockets of resistance are neutralised.
Today, militarism is instilled in society through three different approaches:
WRI's new booklet, Countering Military Recruitment: Learning the lessons of counter-recruitment campaigns internationally, is out now. The booklet includes examples of campaigning against youth militarisation across different countries with the contribution of grassroot activists.