by Sabina Frederic, Universidad Nacional de Quilmes, Argentine In collaboration with the LAMC, the GERME and the CHDAJ, in the frame of the project “State encounters over the world: a transatlantic comparison of professional norms and practices of the polices and bureaucratic agencies related to migration policies” (FNRS – MYNCIT) From 2006, the distinction between “recruiting” and “integrating” women into the Argentine Armed Forces became part of the political agenda of the Ministry of Defense. Thus, the ministry created the Gender Policy Council for the Defense where military officers and gender experts debated on the signification of female recruitment, advancing and supporting different forms of “integration”.  Discussions on female integration into the armed forces reflected the current trends about the military profession in Argentina, and showed the significance that the gender issue had won in this sphere. Also, they prompted reflections on the nature of the military role, until now considered institutionally as encompassing family and private life. It seemed clear that without the “autonomization” of the female military from the concept of motherhood as essence, it became impossible to limit inequities. We shall see here the issues discussed at the Council, as well as the different positions: those that supported extending the protection of rights, gender equality and labor regulations of other social areas to the military sphere, and those others that defended the uniqueness of the military. Biography : Sabina Frederic holds a PhD in Social Anthropology (University of Utrecht, the Netherlands). She is a professor at National University of Quilmes (UNQ) and Researcher at National Scientific and Technical Research Council in Argentina. She was Dean of the Department of Social Sciences at UNQ (2004-2008); and the Undersecretary of Education at the Ministry of Defense (2009-2011). Her current research interest is in military and police professionalization and democratization in contemporary Argentina. Her lasts books are, Frederic, S. Las Trampas del Pasado. Las Fuerzas Armadas y su Integración al Estado democrático edited by Fondo de Cultura Económica (2013); Frederic, S., M. Galvani, B. Renoldi and J. Garriga De Armas Llevar: estudios socioculturales sobre los quehaceres de Policías y Fuerzas de Seguridad edited by National University of La Plata (2014); and Carreiras, H, C. Castro and S. Frederic Researching the Military, edited by Routledge (2016) Wednesday 29 March from 6 until 8 pm Institut de Sociologie Room Henri Janne (15^th floor) Avenue Jeanne 44 – 1050 Brussels