Commensality and Cohesion: A Case Study About the Role of Food for Cohesion in Swiss Recruit Schools
Strong group cohesion is essential for the success of military operations. The literature identifies various ways such cohesion can be fostered. This analysis focuses on a specific and often overlooked factor: food and meals. Based on 41 interviews with recruits in the Swiss Armed Forces, different...
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| Language: | English |
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Scandinavian Military Studies
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Scandinavian Journal of Military Studies |
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| Online Access: | https://account.sjms.nu/index.php/sms-j-sjms/article/view/268 |
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| author | Stefano De Rosa |
| author_facet | Stefano De Rosa |
| author_sort | Stefano De Rosa |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Strong group cohesion is essential for the success of military operations. The literature identifies various ways such cohesion can be fostered. This analysis focuses on a specific and often overlooked factor: food and meals. Based on 41 interviews with recruits in the Swiss Armed Forces, different mechanisms and processes are presented through which food contributes to the formation of bonds in a military context. The paper argues that shared meals are particularly conducive in facilitating acquaintance between comrades, reinforcing shared values, creating a collective sense of reality, and eliciting the emergence of mutual bonds. It is important to acknowledge that meals are more than merely periods designated for the communal ingestion of nutrients, being critical to the development of social bonds. In the relative isolation of military life, food and commensality – the practice of communal eating – help to satisfy the human need for belonging. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-5318764be57a4b8fb28baac401941a55 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2596-3856 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Scandinavian Military Studies |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scandinavian Journal of Military Studies |
| spelling | doaj-art-5318764be57a4b8fb28baac401941a552025-08-21T12:48:04ZengScandinavian Military StudiesScandinavian Journal of Military Studies2596-38562025-07-0181327–341327–34110.31374/sjms.268261Commensality and Cohesion: A Case Study About the Role of Food for Cohesion in Swiss Recruit SchoolsStefano De Rosa0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8667-0141Military Academy (MILAC) at ETH ZurichStrong group cohesion is essential for the success of military operations. The literature identifies various ways such cohesion can be fostered. This analysis focuses on a specific and often overlooked factor: food and meals. Based on 41 interviews with recruits in the Swiss Armed Forces, different mechanisms and processes are presented through which food contributes to the formation of bonds in a military context. The paper argues that shared meals are particularly conducive in facilitating acquaintance between comrades, reinforcing shared values, creating a collective sense of reality, and eliciting the emergence of mutual bonds. It is important to acknowledge that meals are more than merely periods designated for the communal ingestion of nutrients, being critical to the development of social bonds. In the relative isolation of military life, food and commensality – the practice of communal eating – help to satisfy the human need for belonging.https://account.sjms.nu/index.php/sms-j-sjms/article/view/268cohesionmilitaryfoodmealscommensalitybonding |
| spellingShingle | Stefano De Rosa Commensality and Cohesion: A Case Study About the Role of Food for Cohesion in Swiss Recruit Schools Scandinavian Journal of Military Studies cohesion military food meals commensality bonding |
| title | Commensality and Cohesion: A Case Study About the Role of Food for Cohesion in Swiss Recruit Schools |
| title_full | Commensality and Cohesion: A Case Study About the Role of Food for Cohesion in Swiss Recruit Schools |
| title_fullStr | Commensality and Cohesion: A Case Study About the Role of Food for Cohesion in Swiss Recruit Schools |
| title_full_unstemmed | Commensality and Cohesion: A Case Study About the Role of Food for Cohesion in Swiss Recruit Schools |
| title_short | Commensality and Cohesion: A Case Study About the Role of Food for Cohesion in Swiss Recruit Schools |
| title_sort | commensality and cohesion a case study about the role of food for cohesion in swiss recruit schools |
| topic | cohesion military food meals commensality bonding |
| url | https://account.sjms.nu/index.php/sms-j-sjms/article/view/268 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT stefanoderosa commensalityandcohesionacasestudyabouttheroleoffoodforcohesioninswissrecruitschools |