Becoming a Conscientious Objector: The Use of Arms and Institutional Accounting Practices

Abstract

Social institutions are powerful agents in the creation and maintenance of discursive practices in modern society. In a sociocultural perspective this implies that institutions also play a vital role for the formation of linguistic categories and forms of thought adopted by individuals when acting in such settings. In this chapter, our interest will be focused on studying some aspects of dialogues in an institutional context with an emphasis on analyzing what counts as valid forms of argumentation. The particular setting we have chosen as our subject of inquiry is one in which the decision is taken whether or not to grant a conscript the status of conscientious objector. As part of this bureaucratic procedure there is an interview between a representative of the authorities responsible for the enrollment procedures (usually a psychologist) and the conscript. The purpose of this interview is to establish whether the arguments presented by the conscript are sufficient for him to be exempted from carrying arms.