‘We are still in the desert’: Diaspora and the (de)territorialization of identity in discursive representations of the US soldier.

This paper examines the territorial organization of the US military through the lens of diaspora studies in order to explore how the dynamism of identity is implicated by the constant movement between divergent social and material territories. We contend that military identity is subjected todiasporic intersections, which are moments where identity is tethered to multiple geographies simultaneously. Through an analysis of widely circulated Western war films and narratives produced by military personnel we highlight two prominent diasporic intersections in the US military: regulation of the body and occupational identity connected to labor practices. After discussing the utility of diaspora theory for analyzing military organization, we explore the construction of diasporic intersections in micro and macro discourses, and conclude by presenting avenues for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]