ON HEURISTIC VALUE OF THE CONCEPT OF MILITARY CULTURE

Abstract

Članak polazi od konstatacije činjenice sve učestalijeg korištenja koncepta vojne kulture. Razmatraju se unutardisciplinarni i kontekstualni razlozi zbog kojih je došlo do širokog prihvaćanja ovog koncepta od strane istraživača vojske u 1990-ima. Razlažu se različite teorijske konceptualizacije ovoga pojma te mogući istraživački pristupi i strategije. Zaključak je da je teško pronaći “pravu” definiciju vojne kulture koja bi istodobno bila dovoljno obuhvatna i dovoljno operabilna. Usprkos tomu, koncept vojne kulture posjeduje heurističku vrijednost jer omogućava inovativni odabir tema i istraživačkih perspektiva, od kojih bi neke iz rakursa klasične sociologije vojske bile sasvim nezamislive.The article begins with the constatation of frequent usage of the concept of military culture, beginning in1990s. Intra-disciplinary and contextual factors contributed to the broad embracement of this concept. Various theoretical conceptualizations and research strategies using the concept of military culture are discussed. Conclusion is that it is hard to find such definition of military sulture that would be allencompassing and opreationable. Nevertheless, the heuristic value of the concept lies in its ability to open up innovative themes and research perspectives, some of them completely unthinkable from within the horizons of the classic military sociology