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Of ‘True Professionals’ and ‘Ethical Hero Warriors’: a Gender-Discourse Analysis of Private Military and Security Companies

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Of ‘True Professionals’ and ‘Ethical Hero Warriors’: a Gender-Discourse Analysis of Private Military and Security Companies
Security Dialogue http://sdi.sagepub.com/ Of 'true professionals ' and 'ethical hero warriors ': A gender-discourse analysis of private military and security companies
Jutta Joachim and Andrea Schneiker Security Dialogue 2012 43: 495 DOI: 10.1177/0967010612463488 The online version of this article can be found at: http://sdi.sagepub.com/content/43/6/495

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International Peace Research Institute, Oslo

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Article

Of ‘true professionals’ and ‘ethical hero warriors’: A gender-discourse analysis of private military and security companies
Jutta Joachim

Security Dialogue 43(6) 495–512 © The Author(s) 2012 Reprints and permission: sagepub. co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0967010612463488 sdi.sagepub.com

Institute of Political Science, Leibniz University, Hannover, Germany

Andrea Schneiker

Institute of Political Science, Leibniz University, Hannover, Germany

Abstract
Private military and security companies (PMSCs) have gained increasingly in importance over the course of the past two decades. Yet, given the intransparency of the industry and the heterogeneity of the companies that comprise it, we thus far know little about the actors involved. In this article, we offer preliminary insights into the self-representation of PMSCs, based on a gender-discourse analysis of the homepages of select companies and their main professional associations. We argue that survival in an increasingly competitive industry not only hinges on size, market share or



References: Downloaded from sdi.sagepub.com at Univ of Newcastle upon Tyne on December 22, 2012 Joachim and Schneiker: Gender discourse analysis of private military and security companies 509 Brooks D (2009) MONUC, Inc Downloaded from sdi.sagepub.com at Univ of Newcastle upon Tyne on December 22, 2012 510 Security Dialogue 43(6) G4S (2010) Main Downloaded from sdi.sagepub.com at Univ of Newcastle upon Tyne on December 22, 2012 Joachim and Schneiker: Gender discourse analysis of private military and security companies 511 L3-MPRI (2010) Corporate philosophy Downloaded from sdi.sagepub.com at Univ of Newcastle upon Tyne on December 22, 2012 512 Security Dialogue 43(6) Triple Canopy (2010) Triple Canopy donates and delivers humanitarian aid to Haitian earthquake victims Downloaded from sdi.sagepub.com at Univ of Newcastle upon Tyne on December 22, 2012

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