Transforming masculinities after scandal: the response to Australia’s war crimes in Afghanistan and the possibility of change in military masculinities

ABSTRACT This article focuses on what role masculinities might be playing in Australian war crimes in Afghanistan, and whether it is possible to shift such masculinities after the revelation of scandals. It makes the argument that although masculinities have been central to these war crimes, attempting reform at the moment of scandal is unlikely to lead to necessary structural reform. Rather, this article argues that responses focused on masculinity at the moment of scandal are likely to constitute what Jamie Johnson (2016, 705) refers to as ‘line-drawing manoeuvres’, thereby singling out extreme acts of excessive violence to re-legitimise the institution which produced such violence. Therefore, the Brereton Report demonstrates the need for structural changes addressing the foundations of violent masculinities within the Australian Defence Force and not ad hoc efforts to remedy its most extreme excesses.