ABSTRACT
The preceding chapters in this volume have addressed numerous aspects of the war and society field. But an additional topic that requires some commentary is war and culture. It is problematic, in that culture is difficult to define, particularly in a manner that facilitates consistent methodological and analytical approaches. Culture is about meaning, how it is constructed, expressed, and disseminated. It is manifested in various types of media and art, ideas and concepts, but also in action and speech. It is shared, and helps to define, communities and networks of various scales, and in varying contexts. Discrete cultures, for example, supposedly exist from the supranational level down to particular regions, municipalities, and neighborhoods; for particular ethnic, racial, class, and gender categories; for specific vocations and professions; and for those who adopt distinctive lifestyles, or endure unique circumstances. In this regard, culture and identity are crucially interlinked. (For interested readers, separate chapters in this volume address the intersection of war and gender, and war and race, written by Heather Stur, and by David Ulbrich and Alexander Bielakowski, respectively.)
