Image by: Prof Lindy Heinecken

Caption: Sociology and Social Anthropology Senior Lecturer Prof Lindy Heinecken and Associate Prof Alan Okros, Deputy Director of Research in the Dallaire Centre of Excellence for Peace and Security Canadian Defence Academy.

• What does this award mean to an outstanding academic and professional in the military fraternity?

Receiving the Morris Janowitz Career Achievement Award is a significant honour that recognises a distinguished career in the academic field of military sociology, and armed forces and society. It is awarded by the Inter-University Seminar on Armed Forces and Society (IUS), and signifies the highest recognition for a senior scholar in this field. The award not only recognises research excellence but pays tribute to those who have provided significant service to the discipline, which can include leadership within professional organisations, editing journals (such as Armed Forces & Society), mentoring, and public engagement on related issues. The award is named after Morris Janowitz, a world-renowned American sociologist considered a key founder of military sociology. Therefore, receiving the award connects the recipient's career to his pioneering legacy and other highly rated academics in the field.

• How does one become a fellow of the IUS and how long you have been a fellow?

I have been a fellow since 1996, having delivered my first paper at the IUS in 1997 – 28 years ago. To become an IUS fellow … in my case I was nominated, but the IUS selects its fellows based on demonstrated professional accomplishments in the study of armed forces and society.

Key criteria include holding an advanced degree (PhD) in related academic fields (e.g. sociology, political science, history and international relations); having a record of research and publications in the field of military studies or civil-military relations; and demonstrated professional success through teaching, research, or other relevant accomplishments.

One may become an IUS fellow by formally applying and demonstrating through your CV and application that you meet the professional standards of scholarship and service in the field of armed forces and society.

• Was this award/accolade a defining moment in your career in the military? Tell us more about other awards you have received.

This was indeed a defining moment and most unexpected. I feel tremendously honoured and this is most certainly the highlight of my academic career. It puts you in the top sphere of scholars in the world, working on various aspects of armed forces and society. I have not really received any other awards, except research grants.

• How does your background of military studies and sociology intertwine in the global context?

Fundamentally. Just think about how the war in Ukraine is affecting societies through the use of drones. For example, the work of the sociologist, Ulrich Beck, is highly relevant for understanding drone warfare, primarily through his central thesis of the risk society and related concepts such as reflexive modernisation and the “boomerang effect”. Beck’s framework provides a macro-level sociological lens for examining how this modern technology fundamentally alters the nature of security, risk and state accountability in a globalised world.

Thus, military sociology provides the analytical tools to understand armed forces not just as instruments of violence, but as complex social institutions deeply embedded in, and profoundly shaped by, global society and global change.

This field operates on the premise that military institutions and warfare are fundamentally social phenomena. Taking the field of civil-military relations, a key focus is how different types of states – democracies, authoritarian regimes and transitional governments – manage the relationship between civilian political leadership and the military establishment. For example, why do some countries have coups d’état and others not? For example, sociologists will look at how “ethnic stacking” contributes to or reduces the possibility of coups.

Much of my own work has been on the internal structure, culture and composition of armed forces, looking at how global trends in the integration of women, LGBTQ+ individuals, and ethnic/racial minorities shape who serves in the military and in what capacities. If one thinks of this, the feminist movement emerged after the Second World War, where women for the first time became permanently employed in society (and the military), and started to challenge masculine norms and values.

The study of war itself is a major sociological topic, looking beyond military tactics to the social and cultural forces that enable, sustain and are reshaped by conflict. Military sociologists examine the social impact of war globally, including forced migration, the creation of refugee flows, the spread of trauma (PTSD) and the impact on family structures, and veterans’ reintegration into civilian life across different societies. These are just some examples.

• What words of wisdom or advice do you have for young professionals in the military space?

We don’t have enough sociologists researching the military, given the strained relations of the discipline with the military and warfare in general. In fact, pick up any sociology textbook and you will hardly see any reference to “war and society”. However, young scholars should study the relationship between armed forces and society because it offers a vital, interdisciplinary lens for understanding some of the most critical issues of our time and is crucial for developing a sophisticated understanding of power, social change and global conflict.

Thus, studying armed forces and society equips young scholars with the knowledge to critique and influence the institutions of organised violence and security – making it a highly relevant, impactful and necessary area of study for understanding the modern world.

However, it is a challenging space to do research in. The military institution is often insular, does not take criticism easily (given their culture of compliance), distrusts civilians and does not like public scrutiny. Navigating this balance is tricky, but essential if one wants one’s research to have an impact ‘where it matters’ – not only in the education of young officers and the public on military affairs – but in the political and policy domains.