Between a Behavior of Deviance and a Rhetoric of Normalization: The Military as a Factor of International Stigmatization

Vandamme, Dorothée
(2017) Democratization and the military - IPSA RC44 — Location: University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand (4.July.2017)

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  • Vandamme, Dorothéeorcid-logoUCLouvain
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Abstract
Despite the ample literature existing on the Pakistani army and its relations with civilian power and politics, few studies so far have looked at the positioning of the military institution as an international social stigma. Yet, as the transition period from one Chief of Army Staff to its successor is unfolding, we are reminded of the importance of the Pakistani military institution for the country’s international positioning. Our study starts with the empirical observation that Pakistan, despite its rhetoric of normalization in the international system, behaves in ways that are interpreted as deviant by others. We disagree with the classification of Pakistan as a fragile state and contend that its weakness lies in its democratic character, not the state of strength or weakness of its institutions. As a result, despite the stigmatization of Pakistan on the global stage, the country is not marginalized and remains a fully integrated player. More broadly, we address the tension between the international norm of non-interference in internal affairs and the normative principle of democratic promotion/defense around which the system is partly shaped, by studying the impact that an out-of-norm military has in terms of international integration or marginalization. Drawing from sociological theories of stigma and role, the analysis addresses the question of the Pakistan Army as a factor of international stigmatization. We build upon the variables of stigma process and its management to test the hypothesis of the importance of the role of the military institution in a state’s politics and the civilian oversight of the army as an international norm, linking it to democracy as an international systemic boundary. We document a set of mechanisms as intervening variables linking the international socialization process through norms with the identification and management of stigmatization of a non-conforming state.
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Vandamme, D. (2017). Between a Behavior of Deviance and a Rhetoric of Normalization: The Military as a Factor of International Stigmatization. Democratization and the military - IPSA RC44, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/92023