Investigating the Use of Force in Contemporary Conflict: Researching Military Operations with Audio, Video and Transcript Data

Using public domain video and/or audio-recordings, transcripts, internal reports and inquiries as data, we investigate specific and often highly controversial incidents in which Western militaries employ the use of force. Analysing the interactional organisation of such incidents as they unfold ‘ethnographically’ (incorporating fieldnotes, interviews, biographical accounts and other relevant resources), our collaborative research examines the assessment of threats, the identification of combatants and the distinction between lawful and unlawful military action as interrelated and co-established features of that work. Of interest to social researchers but also military personnel, lawyers and campaigners, among others, this case study will outline how we methodically investigate the use of force with reference to a particular case, the Uruzgan incident, using available interactional data and related resources while remaining alive to their very real limits.