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- Title
CONVERGENCE, ISOMORPHISM, AND THE INTERDEPENDENCE AT THE CIVIL-MILITARY INTERFACE.
- Authors
Segal, David R.; Blair, John; Newport, Frank; Stephens, Susan
- Abstract
The literature of military sociology dealing with the convergence of civilian and military institutions in modern society asserts that although structural isomorphism may never be attained, the trend is in that direction. It further asserts that this hypothesized convergence is characterized by a breaking-down of the boundary between the civil and the military. We suggest that particularly in an era of all volunteer armed forces, which is the emerging pattern in the industrial nations of the west, the trend is no longer toward convergence and may be one of divergence. Convergence can be seen as making the military functionally independent of its host society and insulated from it, whereas the enforcement of more specifically military definitions of the armed services force them to maintain open boundaries and enter into exchange relationships with their host society. Data relating to the military family, occupational structure, and research management are presented as examples of empirical approaches to the convergence phenomenon.
- Subjects
MILITARY sociology; ARMED Forces; MODERN society; MILITARY science; DEVELOPED countries
- Publication
Journal of Political & Military Sociology, 1974, Vol 2, Issue 2, p157
- ISSN
0047-2697
- Publication type
Article