Embodiment as an analytical category: an inquiry into the 10-year publication of the journal critical military studies

Embodiment has slowly been integrated as a category of analysis in (critical) military studies. In this article, we argue that embodiment – and related concepts such as body, affects and emotions – has become prevalent concerns over the 10-year consolidation of the intellectual project of the journal CMS. We propose an inquiry organized around three axes: situating current debates in the broader field of (critical) military studies; a literature review of the analytical category of embodiment throughout the 10 years of the publication of CMS; and the way forward in integrating embodiment in the field and pushing the research frontiers. We take an agenda setting approach to showcase the engagement with embodiment in CMS from its inception, and outline paths for deeper integration of the concept. The analysis finds that work on embodiment in CMS can be broken down into six interlocking themes: gender, sexuality, and binaries of masculinity/femininity; disability and health; death, mourning and remembrance; race and racialization; resisting militarism; and theoretical, methodological and interventions.