A Bourdieusian analysis of professional military education for Irish army officers

Professional military education (PME) is considered a key enabler in developing the military capabilities required for operating in the complex contemporary security environment. Despite the critical role played by PME in the Irish context, little is known about the PME field, how it is constructed, how it was formed and has evolved, and what influences it today. In addition, there is a dearth of research on army officer education and how PME impacts the professional habitus. This thesis aims to address these knowledge gaps by employing a Bourdieusian analysis to map the PME field in Ireland, and, by exploring how army officers perceive their experiences of PME. Bourdieu and Wacquant’s (1992) three-level analytical approach is employed to analyse the field of PME to develop an understanding of the relationship between military and higher education institutions (HEI) and the policies that influence the delivery of accredited military education. Field mapping is informed by an analysis of policy documents, secondary resources, and semi-structured interviews with military instructors and civilian educators. The findings establish that in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the increased complexity of military operations, benchmarking, and quality assurance caused the Defence Forces to partner with HEI’s for accreditation purposes. These drivers brought together both the military field and higher education field to form the new subfield of PME. The second part of this research explores how army officers perceive their experiences of PME and how military socialisation impacts their professional habitus. Bourdieu and Passeron’s (1977) theory of symbolic violence is used as a lens to analyse military officers’ experiences of PME to develop an understanding of how the military habitus is formed and evolves through career-long PME. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twelve serving army officers drawn from a cross-section of junior, mid, and senior ranks. Informed by Bourdieu and Passeron’s theory, the findings indicate that initial military socialisation is achieved through symbolic violence. Also, a model is proposed for social reproduction and military habitus formation. The findings show that the habitus produced in the Cadet School is that of a focused, young leader who is physically and mentally resilient, and that embodies organisational values. These values guide behaviour and structure thinking, ensuring that the young officer conforms to the norms of the organisation. The military habitus evolves through subsequent PME to create a professionally capable officer with high problem-solving and critical thinking skills. This study contributes to understanding social reproduction and how hierarchical organisations such as the military successfully reproduce themselves. This research demonstrates the continued practical application of Bourdieu’s concepts and theory of symbolic violence whilst extending Bourdieu’s thinking tools in a novel and practical way that can be used to analyse other organisations. Such analysis may help understand organisations as social institutions and their place in the broader social space.