Soldier, surgeon, photographer, fly: Fieldwork beyond the comfort zone
通过作者在阿富汗随军外科团队的经历，从士兵、外科医生、摄影记者和民族志学者四个视角，探讨战争中的矛盾体验（如社区与竞争、意义与徒劳），并指出类似悖论也存在于日常组织生活中。
Few conflicts have created as broad a media canvas as those in Iraq and Afghanistan. The combination of iPhones, iPads, Facebook and YouTube has generated a magnificent, even if occasionally grisly, assortment of snapshots and documentaries, blogs and autobiographies. Some have been controversial – think of Abu Ghraib – but mostly they have been flattering in espousing the heroism of ISAF forces. This is particularly true of images of human anguish beamed to our television screens by camera-equipped soldiers and embedded photojournalists, a handful of whom, like Tim Heatherington and Remi Ochlik, paid the ultimate price. Despite unprecedented access, the ensuing reportage tends to overlook the surreality of war by not being explicit about the sharply conflicting experiences it generates for those involved first-hand. War is surreal for the paradoxes it mobilizes. Prominent among these (and quite aside from the often bizarre physical setting) are the want of community and camaraderie and yet the experience of competition and rivalry; the conflicting emotions of pleasure and guilt; sharp contrasts between a sense of meaning and futility. While petty by comparison, similar paradoxes may be found in the organizations that dominate much of our working lives. It may just be the case that they are easier to identify in contexts that are exceptionally austere, and where getting the wrong end of the stick kills. These conflicting experiences cannot easily be reconciled. Rather, those affected often have little choice but to reconcile themselves to these paradoxes as best they can. In this essay we move from the grotesque to the trivial by examining the experience of war from four vantage points: that of the soldier, combat surgeon, photojournalist and ethnographer. I was encouraged to write from experience. When the opportunity arose to embed with a team of combat surgeons in mid-2011 in Afghanistan, I chucked in my lot lock, stock and barrel. I was given permission to take photographs – a privilege not even extended to those in charge – and returned with 1500 useable images. Preparations for my stint began in mid2009 and involved 18 months of interaction and negotiation followed by six weeks of predeployment training and six weeks in Afghanistan. (A standard tour of duty for UK surgeons is six weeks.) The ensuing rumination is raw. I have not been back long enough to provide the depth of reflection that makes for good theorizing, and there will be plenty of exceptions to my inferences. So be it. 452819 SOQ10310.1177/1476127012452819de RondStrategic Organization 2012