Race-ing War and Society

Authors

• Charissa Threat, Chapman UniversityFollow

Files

Description

This essay explores the intersection of race and the field of war and society in U.S. history. Centering race as a critical fault line, it examines how racial identities, hierarchies, and constructions have shaped—and been shaped by—U.S. experiences of war, both during and beyond moments of active conflict. While race is the central focus, the essay also considers how gender, ethnicity, and class intersect with it. These interconnected forces help define not only who is recognized within "society" but also how war is waged, experienced, and remembered. By analyzing key historiographic debates, the essay considers how scholarship on race has contributed to a deeper, more complex understanding of the war and society field. It also argues that race-based inquiry challenges conventional definitions of war and society, expanding them beyond state-sanctioned actors and discrete wartime events to include long-term, systemic forms of violence and resistance. In doing so, the essay highlights the co-productive relationship between war and society and how race reshapes our understanding of both.

ISBN

9781108938037

Publication Date

7-1-2026

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

City

Cambridge, UK

Keywords

Race, Racism, Discrimination, Work, Labor, Military Service, Citizenship, Americanness, Military Institutions, Patriotism

Disciplines

Cultural History | Inequality and Stratification | Military History | Other History | Political History | Public History | Race and Ethnicity | Social History | United States History

Comments

In Andrew J. Huebner and Jennifer D. Keene(Eds.), The Cambridge History of War and Society in America.

Recommended Citation

Threat, Charissa. “Race-Ing War and Society.” Chapter. In The Cambridge History of War and Society in America, edited by Andrew J. Huebner and Jennifer D. Keene, 481–505. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2026.

Copyright

Cambridge University Press