War and Society

This chapter focuses on four key processes in explaining the sociology of nuclear warfare: the “otherization” of each side, the apparent surgical precision, the sheer industrial capability and wealth of the two societies, and, strangest of all, the mutual agreement and understanding required to maintain the system. War, whatever its nature, is a social fact–a reflection and consequence of social structure, group norms, and relations. It involves the organization of violence through the coordination of many and the support of some social infrastructure. Part of what makes war an excellent candidate for sociological study is the way in which it is an example of micro-level motivations and activity, meso-level coordination and strategies, and macro-level political coordination and intent. In the long arc of technological developments accompanying the history of warfare, World War II represented the zenith of the complexity and destructive capacity of total wars.