Future War for Fun and Profit: Authority, Bureaucracy, and Masculinity in Defence Industry Software Development

Technological innovation is at the heart of many discussions of understanding military practice, and it is increasingly important to understanding the relationship between states, militaries, and civilian actors such as a corporations and citizens increasingly shaped by militarization. One group of technologies affected and whose development has been conditioned by these discussions is simulation software. Based upon four months of participant observation research at a defence contractor and software development company in Calgary, Alberta, this study explores how contingencies of professional practice in the software industry, authority, corporate hierarchy and reporting practices, gender, and the nature of simulation contribute to developing products for military use. This study suggests that these contingencies not only reproduce and reinforce certain gendered, authoritative, and professional stereotypes during production, but that understanding these stereotypes and their linguistic, aesthetic, and structured facets contributes to understanding the relationship between militarization and the production of technology.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Strategic Studies (MSS)

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Military and Strategic Studies

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Arts

Year dc:date.issued

2016

Author dc:creator

• Collins, Riley

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Peric, Sabrina

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Terriff, Terry
• Hiebert, Maureen

• Anthropology--Cultural
• Military Studies

Statement dc:rights

• University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.

Language dc:language.iso

eng

DOI

http://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/26252

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:ucalgary.scholaris.ca:11023/3124