A Sociology of the Drone

Authors

  • Dr. Ina Wiesner Bundeswehr Centre for Military History and Social Sciences

Abstract

Current discourses in science and public about combat drones usually employ arguments from the spheres of technology, strategy, international law and ethics. So far, sociologists have remained silent on this topic. But sociological analyses about the influencing factors of development and employment of combat drones could enrich the debate as well as studies about the effects of combat drone missions on individuals, organisations and societies. This article offers a comprehensive discussion of the sociological aspects of combat drones. A sociological view is not only indicated against the background of the present practice of targeted killings but also because drones appear as an intermediate step towards autonomous offensive combat systems which will change the type of warfare in the future.

Author Biography

Dr. Ina Wiesner, Bundeswehr Centre for Military History and Social Sciences

Ina Wiesner is the head of the project group on multinationality and international armed forces at the Bundeswehr Centre for Military History and Social Sciences in Potsdam, Germany. She received her Ph.D. in Political and Social Sciences from the European University Institute in Florence, Italy. Her research interests include the sociology of military technology, German military transformation and methodology in the social sciences. She is the author of Importing the American Way of War? Network-Centric Warfare in the UK and Germany (2013), and the editor of German Defence Politics (2013). Recent publications include Process Tracing in Case Studies (2014, with Pascal Vennesson) in: Routledge Handbook of Research Methods in Military Studies, Routledge, and UAV for R2P? : Exploring the Effectiveness and Legitimacy of Drones (2015), in: Precision Strike Warfare and International Intervention, Routledge.

Downloads

Published

2017-09-11

Issue

Vol. 18 No. 1 (2017)

Section

Articles