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Kalashnikov Culture Small Arms Proliferation and Irregular Warfare
Christopher Carr
ISBN: 0-313-34614-3
ISBN-13: 978-0-313-34614-9
200 pages
Praeger Publishers
Publication: 7/30/2008
List Price: $75.00 (UK Sterling Price: £51.95)
Availability: In Stock
Media Type: Hardcover
Also Available: Ebook
Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
Subjects:
Series Title: PSI Reports
Reviews:
  • Carr (US Army War College) argues that this proliferation has bred "Kalashnikov cultures" of uncontrolled local political violence, entailing social and economic patterns more extreme than the "gun cultures" of countries like the US or Switzerland. Kalashnikov cultures reflect the breakdown of civil order, harsh economic dislocations, and profound personal and group insecurity that are transformed into aggressive gang-like behavior and the acquisition and glorification of armaments, especially by young men.
    —CHOICE     3/1/2009
Description: This work is a bridge between the failed/weak states' literature and that which examines issues relating to small arms proliferation. Carr investigates the cultural impact of the availability of these easy-to-come-by weapons. This cultural dynamic has a direct, and deadly impact on issues such as arms control, illegal and illicit trading, gun cultures, the nexus between criminality and militia warfare and the social impact of arms proliferation, and the struggle for weak states who attempt to govern. The case studies will appeal to those with regional or comparative interests. Although the tone is academic, the topics and the subject matter will make this book of interest to those outside of the academic community.

The work takes the form of alternating chapters in which elements of Kalashnikov enculturation, for example the peculiar forms of aberrant economic activity that exist within Kalashnikov cultures, are paired with chapter-length mini-case studies, such as that dealing with armed gang movements in Jamaica, Papua New Guinea, and Brazil. The whole work is bounded by the contention that under certain conditions heavily weaponized societies create their own milieu, which in turn gives rise to communities that find ways to survive (and sometimes thrive) within an ambiance of chronic insecurity.
Table of Contents:
  • Introduction
    Chapter 1 - KALASHNIKOV ENCULTURATION
    Chapter 2 - KALASHNIKOV IN THE CULTURE : THE ROLE OF THE GUN
    Chapter 3 - KALASHNIKOV TRAFFIC: TRADING ARMS
    Chapter 4 - KALASHNIKOV COMMERCE: THE AK AS ECONOMIC INSTRUMENT
    Chapter 5 - PAKISTAN : THE PROTOTYPICAL KALASHNIKOV CULTURE
    Chapter 6 - PASTORAL WARRIORS : CATTLE RAIDERS OF EAST AFRICA
    Chapter 7 - GANGSTA WARRIORS
    Chapter 8 - A TRADITION OF ARMS : YEMEN
    Chapter 9 - KALASHNIKOV ISLANDS
    Chapter 10 - KALASHNIKOV COUNTERCULTURE: CONTROL AND DISARMAMENT
    Chapter 11 - KALASHNIKOV FUTURE
    Bibliography
About the Author: Christopher Carr is Associate Professor of International Security at the U.S. Air War College. He has written and researched on the trade in arms and on the impact of light weapons proliferation on vulnerable societies and is the author of Security Implications of Microdisarmament (2000). He is a contributor to James Forest's Countering Terrorism and Insurgency in the 21st Century, 3 Volumes (Praeger Security International, 2007). Carr earned his Ph.D. in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
PDF Catalogs:
Academic Library Fall 2008.pdf
PSI Catalog Fall 2008.pdf
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