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Военная идентичность: как маскулинная идеология формирует отношение к насилию
The article examines the mechanisms of formation and maintenance of military identity using the example of participants in a special military operation in Ukraine. The study examines two registers of military identity - narrative and bodily. The empirical base consists of 15 in-depth interviews and 3 completed body maps created by former combatants. The analysis shows that the stability of military identity is supported by two key elements: a specific masculine ideology and characteristic relationships with violence. Masculine ideology is manifested through a constant desire for challenges, rejection of a sedentary life and the formation of a closed solidarity within a homosocial community - a gender-segregated group with special social ties between people of the same sex. In its environment, a specific type of sociality is created, characterized by radical egalitarianism and a clear division into friends and enemies. The study also addresses factors that potentially destabilize military identity: wounds, disability and captivity. Paradoxically, these events can not only undermine, but also strengthen military identity through the desire to return to combat or the search for alternative ways to maintain masculinity. The results obtained deepen the understanding of the processes of formation and transformation of the identity of combatants, which is important for understanding the problems of their subsequent integration into civil society.