(Re)Producing military mythology at the Canada Army Run

Abstract

This thesis offers a novel exploration of militarism in amateur sport, wherein civilians are participants rather than spectators, thus allowing the body to be centered when exploring reproductions of militarism. I analyze the 2019 Canada Army Run -an annual road race organized and hosted by the Canadian Armed Forces -to explore how embodied interaction with the pro-military messaging saturating the event affects participants' political orientation to the Canadian military. I draw on ethnographic data gathered while running in the 5k race and attending pre-and post-race activities, as well as 40 semi-structured qualitative interviews with race participants and three interviews with event organizers. Theoretically, I utilize Barthes' (1972) work on mythology to conceptualize the ideological significance and political affects of military myth and explore the ways myth is circulated and produced at the Army Run.The most predominant Canadian Armed Forces myths described by participants are: having a standing, armed military is necessary and inevitable; the military is moral, only using force when necessary and primarily engaging in aid work; and the military is misunderstood by most civilians and as a result is under appreciated. These myths circulate at the Army Run in myriad ways. The opportunity to build civilian-military connections via interpersonal interaction was the event's most effective tactic in generating civilian support. The race expo facilitated interaction between civilian race attendees and military servicepeople who volunteered for or participated in the races, while featuring individual deceased veterans along the racecourse encouraged participants to see the military not as a faceless institution, but rather as the sum of its parts: individual servicepeople. Army Run participation notably impacted the orientation of civilian participants who had no strong attachment to the military prior to participating. For this group, participation inspired increased political support for the military, largely as a result of developing a perceived connection to the military.Ultimately, I argue that the Canada Army Run (re)produces myths of military necessity, morality, and under appreciation via participants' embodied engagement in military themed spaces and with military members. Through physical engagement in the Army Run's militarysaturated event space and interaction with military servicepeople, participants come to feel connected to the military, and it is through this felt connection that increased support is generated and attention is shifted away from military politics and practices and toward the interpersonal. The Army Run's presentation of a depoliticized, individualized Canadian Armed Forces allows for increased public support that remains constant as it is not grounded in the reality of military action, thus enabling the proliferation of military power and investment.