On the justification of military migrants’ careers and identities

Abstract

Britain’s Commonwealth soldiers’ career journeys and experiences remain an intricate subject, and there is a dearth of literature on the topic. With a focus on Boltanski and Thévenot’s (2006) ‘On Justification’ competencies and processes of justification of choices, decisions, actions and behaviours, this study explored the life-history accounts of the careers of West African commonwealth soldiers (military migrants [MM]) who joined the BAF between 1998 and 2013. This was done to theorise how they justify their decisions to sign-up, account for their transition from military to civil work and how they deal with the veteran, migrant, and new professional identities they come to hold post-military service. The study provides qualitative analysis data from semi-structured interviews with UK-based veterans from West African Commonwealth countries. By connecting insights from the On Justification “common world” moral vocabularies with extant career perspectives, this study sheds light on the career rationales of MMs. It also extends our understanding of the nuances and challenges associated with transitioning from the military into the civilian domain and how this group of veterans have managed their multiple identities to respond to and overcome everyday structural barriers post-military service. The findings of this research bring to the fore and support the notion that the interplay of context, situations, and experiences are drivers of how MMs rationalise their career choices, actions, and decisions. This complex interplay also directly or indirectly impacts how MMs positively (or negatively) experience their career and deal with their identities. The implications of the findings for the theory and practice of human resource management are outlined in closing.