Wargaming in the social sciences: Overview and perspectives
Type de matériel :
12
With the first transdisciplinary study days dedicated to wargaming and the publication of a double issue on the subject in the journal Stratégique, the year 2024 formally marked the French revival of wargaming practices and, more importantly, the desire to develop rigorous and well-tested methodologies. However, wargames remain largely confined to traditional academic and professional disciplines (history, political science, military training, etc.), limiting broader debates and innovative applications, particularly in educational practices and research within the fields of the social sciences. Our article thus makes two key contributions to supporting the development of wargaming, both in terms of extending its reach across disciplines and grounding it in a robust scientific framework. First, we outline three different forms of wargaming: educational wargaming, analytical wargaming, and recreational wargaming. Second, building on this initial work, which draws on a literature review and several activities conducted within IAE Paris-Est, we propose tailored methodologies for each form: experiential learning underpinned by critical realism for educational wargaming, cooperative action research in the form of collaborative inquiry for analytical wargaming, and guided practices for recreational wargaming.
Réseaux sociaux