Economic conscription is the mechanisms for recruitment of personnel for the armed forces through the use of economic conditions, particularly when geographical areas within a country are neglected in terms of their economic development, leading to a situation where a high proportion of young people consider a career within the armed forces as an attractive career choice; the premise is that if these areas enjoyed favourable conditions, this would not be the case, and that governments using this mechanism know this, and choose not to change the situation.

Claim and counter-claim

The term is usually used in a pejorative sense, with critics claiming that the government could create conditions where joining the armed forces would not be seen as an attractive career choice, but choose not to in order to avoid resourcing problems for their armed forces. Governments in countries at which the charge of using this method is levelled counter that they are providing work for people who would otherwise not have any.

Example countries

Countries which have been described as practising economic conscription include the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. In both cases the armed forces contain sections whose purpose is to recruit new personnel.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, these units often recruit through the use of "careers fairs" in areas of high unemployment. In

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, it has been claimed by

Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru ( ; ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left to left-wing, Welsh nationalist political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from the United Kingdom. Plaid wa ...

that "the army is targeting schools in some of the poorest areas of Wales to find new recruits".

United States

In the US, teams of staff from these units visit poor neighbourhoods, particularly in southern states and other areas with a high

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

population, promoting membership of the armed forces. In both cases, the financial rewards of joining up are used as a central part of the "sales package" — continued use of these tactics in poor areas proves sufficiently successful in attracting a high level of new recruits.

History of the term

The term was in use as early as 1915.Economic Conscription I
James Connolly, www.marxists.org, retrieved 23 Jan 2010

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Economic Conscription Conscription Military economics