Weapons, desire, and the making of war

ABSTRACT

Weapons have been traditionally understood as tools of violence subject to human intentions. This article challenges this view of weaponry in favour of thinking of weapons as agentic entities with formative influence over human desires. It builds this account by using contemporary materialist theories to reconceptualise weapons as pluripotential entities that act in ways that exceed human intentions. The article argues this understanding of weaponry can be usefully applied to reinterpret debates over the nature of war, insecurity and technological development. It shows how minimising the political efficacy of weapons limits contemporary understanding of these events.

KEYWORDS:

• Weapons
• technology
• new materialism
• actor network theory, military strategy, drones, Clausewitz

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Benjamin Meiches

Benjamin Meiches is an assistant professor of Security Studies and Conflict Resolution at the University of Washington-Tacoma. He received his Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University. His research addresses genocide, armed conflict, humanitarian intervention, and critical theory.