CREATING AGENTS OF CHANGE IN THE GLOBAL SECURITY COMMUNITY: A TRANSNATIONAL ETHNOGRAPHY OF THE GEORGE C. MARSHALL EUROPEAN CENTER FOR SECURITY STUDIES IN GARMISCH, GERMANY
CREATING AGENTS OF CHANGE IN THE GLOBAL SECURITY COMMUNITY: A TRANSNATIONAL ETHNOGRAPHY OF THE GEORGE C. MARSHALL EUROPEAN CENTER FOR SECURITY STUDIES IN GARMISCH, GERMANY

Summary/Abstract: The purpose of this study is to reveal how the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies (MC) experience contributes to fostering a shared security culture and global security community. The article attempts to unveil the process through which the MC alumni become agents of change in their home countries’ security environment by applying new values, norms, and practices. Grounded in the theory of social remittances, this institutional ethnography is based on extensive immersion in the field and interviewing 202 MC course participants from 60 countries. The findings reveal that the MC alumni do become agents of change. They contribute to shaping a global security community, they transform their home countries’ civil society, organizational and political culture, and challenge resistance to organizational change. We are proposing the concept of transnational ethnography to advance this innovative qualitative method based on accounts from participants from 60 countries and centered on two special settings: Garmisch, Germany and Bucharest, Romania.

• Details
• Contents