The Obedient and Well-Trained “Military” Body: Disciplinary Practices in Hellenic Air Forces

Abstract

In this paper we present the results of a qualitative study that was designed to examine the social-psychological attitudes and the interpretive perceptions of a particular social microcosm; namely the students of the Hellenic Air Force Academy Members (Icaroi) towards disciplinary techniques. It as well examines-through nine semi-structured interviews-the significance of the obedient and well-trained body regarding the fulfillment of the professional objectives posed by the military hierarchy. It seems that the uniform lifestyle that includes physical appearance, diet, sleep, the pursuit of good health and even collective punishment, as well as the custom of hazing, particularly socialize students in a military environment. In this coercive and demanding context, the body is perceived as a crucial material property and as a dynamic symbolic instrument of power. In this sense, physical and psychological stress, as well as disciplinary techniques, are understood, within this strict environment, as absolutely reasonable and accepted if certain, rational, limits are not exceeded.