Narratives Around Civil–Military Cooperation: How Institutionalized Discourses Influence Learning in Peace Operations

Abstract

This article is concerned with narratives about the relation between the military and civilians. Narratives, dominant institutionalized discourses, influence how individuals learn by providing frames of reference which moderate the acquisition of new knowledge. Although the importance of narratives for institutional behavior has been recognized in the field of security studies, little attention has been paid to how they influence learning. This article presents a framework to analyze narratives in the context of learning based on the case of peace operations. Using qualitative case studies for theory-building, I argue that narratives on the closeness between the military and “the people” ease pressures to improve the military’s engagement with civilians and render peacekeepers less inclined to learn. All else equal, the absence of entrenched ideas about military–society relations facilitates the acquisition of new knowledge and skills in civil–military cooperation.