In recent years there has been growing discomfort in some quarters around (what is seen as) increasing levels of promotion of the military and ‘military ethos’ among children and young people. This panel gathers some of those working in this area to discuss questions such as “Does the military have a place in schools?”, “What kind of character do we want our children and young people to build?” and “Is there ever a justification for recruiting children to the armed services?”
Book tickets at http://just-festival.org/just-conversations-2015/
Speakers:
David Gee is a writer and campaigner on the ethics of military recruitment, mental health of veterans, and the role of citizens in building peace and resisting war. He is a co-founder of ForcesWatch and former director of Alternatives to Violence Project. His latest book, ‘Spectacle, Reality, Resistance: Confronting a culture of militarism’ (published by ForcesWatch in 2014) explores the cultural treatment of war and resistance to the UK government’s increasingly prodigious efforts to regain control of the story we tell ourselves about it.
Mairi Campbell-Jack is the Scottish Parliamentary Engagement Officer for the Quakers in Scotland. Mairi has worked in a variety of public affairs and policy roles in Scotland, including a brief stint in The Scottish Parliament, one of Scotland’s top four law firms, and award winning PR firm and Scotland’s leading political monitoring company (twice). She currently works with Quakers in Scotland on issues such as militarization in schools and Trident.
Second Leiutenant Ryan Mounsey, platoon commander and former Officer Cadet with City of Edinburgh UOTC is an army scholar who completed the Army Officer Selection Board for scholars aged 17 and former member of the army’s youth movement the Army Cadet Force which he was a member of between the ages of 12 and 18. Ryan is Currently studying history at the University of Edinburgh about to commence third year.
Chair: Brian Larkin, Coordinator of the Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre.
Forces Watch believes that armed forces recruitment practices in the UK are largely unethical and that uncritical support for the armed forces stifles concerns about how young people are recruited. It raises ethical concerns about military recruitment practices, campaigns for improvements in recruitment practice, promotes understanding and respect for the moral choices and objections of armed forces personnel, and challenges government use of the armed forces to promote uncritical national pride in the military in order to garner public support for armed intervention overseas.
Quakers believe that our religious insights, attitudes and practices together form a way of life. Quakers believe that there is something of God in every person and that we are all of one family and should have equal access to the earth’s resources. Quakers are known for their stand on peace and non-violence.
