U S Militarism And The Terrain Of Memory

Author : John Bechtold
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
Page : 160 pages
File Size : 43,8 Mb
Release : 2024-08-01
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781040099582

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U.S. Militarism and the Terrain of Memory by John Bechtold Pdf

This book analyzes how the Iraqi city of Fallujah became registered as a setting for military heroics in American memory. In 2004, the U.S. military conducted two disastrous assaults in Fallujah, Iraq. More than 1,000 citizens were killed, and, according to the military’s own estimate, upwards of 200,000 people were displaced because of the violence. Yet, despite this human catastrophe, the kind of information that emerged in the public domain during the battle foregrounded the soldier's experience in war while effacing the destruction of Iraqi bodies. This tendency to foreground the soldier body is a direct result of the military’s intervention in what they conceptualize as the "information environment." This book draws from the second assault in Fallujah as a case study to explicate the military’s investment in this perspectival space, which is a consequence both of the mediatization of contemporary war and of the need to influence knowledge considered unfavorable to military operations. In short, the military enlists the media in their targeting process to produce information that is then deployed as persuasive force to modify the beliefs of specific target populations. When the cultural texts produced by the media are remediated in the public domain after war, they can be thought of as martial constructs because they originated during war through the military’s systemized attempt to influence knowledge. That is, these texts trace to a specific battlefield objective. This book reframes the notion of propaganda as a generalized public relations strategy into a more acute and coordinated attempt to decontextualize specific knowledge in the information environment. This book will be of much interest to students of media and communication studies, war studies, memory studies, and international relations.

Author : John Bechtold
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 45,5 Mb
Release : 2024
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 1032693916

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U.S. Militarism and the Terrain of Memory by John Bechtold Pdf

"This book analyses how the Iraqi city of Fallujah became registered as a setting for military heroics in American memory. In 2004, the US military conducted two disastrous assaults in Fallujah, Iraq. More than 1,000 citizens were killed, and, according to the military's own estimate, upwards of 200,000 people were displaced because of the violence. Yet, despite this human catastrophe, the kind of information that emerged in the public domain during the battle foregrounded the soldier experience in war while effacing the destruction of Iraqi bodies. This tendency to foreground the soldier body is a direct result of the military's intervention into what they conceptualize as the 'information environment'. This book draws from the second assault in Fallujah as a case study to explicate the military's investment in this perspectival space, which is both a consequence of the mediatization of contemporary war and of the need to influence knowledge considered unfavorable to military operations. In short, the military enlists the media into their targeting process to produce information that is then deployed as persuasive force to modify the beliefs of specific target populations. When the cultural texts produced by the media are remediated in the public domain after war, they can be thought of as martial constructs because they originated during war through the military's systemized attempt to influence knowledge. That is, these texts trace to a specific battlefield objective. This book reframes the notion of propaganda as a generalized public relations strategy to a more acute and coordinated attempt to decontextualize specific knowledge in the information environment. This book will be of much interest to students of media and communication studies, war studies, memory studies and International Relations"--

Author : John Bodnar
Publisher : JHU Press
Page : 321 pages
File Size : 47,8 Mb
Release : 2010-10-01
Category : History
ISBN : 9781421400020

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The "Good War" in American Memory by John Bodnar Pdf

The “Good War” in American Memory dispels the long-held myth that Americans forged an agreement on why they had to fight in World War II. John Bodnar's sociocultural examination of the vast public debate that took place in the United States over the war's meaning reveals that the idea of the "good war" was highly contested. Bodnar's comprehensive study of the disagreements that marked the American remembrance of World War II in the six decades following its end draws on an array of sources: fiction and nonfiction, movies, theater, and public monuments. He identifies alternative strands of memory—tragic and brutal versus heroic and virtuous—and reconstructs controversies involving veterans, minorities, and memorials. In building this narrative, Bodnar shows how the idealism of President Franklin Roosevelt's Four Freedoms was lost in the public commemoration of World War II, how the war's memory became intertwined in the larger discussion over American national identity, and how it only came to be known as the "good war" many years after its conclusion.

Author : Nami Kim,Wonhee Anne Joh
Publisher : Springer
Page : 237 pages
File Size : 48,9 Mb
Release : 2016-12-24
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781137480132

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Critical Theology against US Militarism in Asia by Nami Kim,Wonhee Anne Joh Pdf

Drawing on cultural studies scholar Kuan-Hsing Chen's threefold notion of decolonization, deimperialization, and de-cold-war, this book provides analyses of the interrelated issues concerning the relationship between Christianity and the United States' imperialist militarism in the Asia Pacific. Contributors explore the effects of US imperialist militarism on the formation of Asian and Asian American collective subjectivity and inter/intra subjectivity. The book investigates the ways in which Christianity (broadly defined), in its own complexity, has been complicit in maintaining and reinforcing US imperialist military agendas in both national and international contexts. Conversely, the volume also discusses the various sites and instances where Christianity has managed to serve as a force of resistance against US imperialist militarism.

Author : Sherrie Tucker
Publisher : Duke University Press
Page : 447 pages
File Size : 50,8 Mb
Release : 2014-10-23
Category : History
ISBN : 9780822376200

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Dance Floor Democracy by Sherrie Tucker Pdf

Open from 1942 until 1945, the Hollywood Canteen was the most famous of the patriotic home front nightclubs where civilian hostesses jitterbugged with enlisted men of the Allied Nations. Since the opening night, when the crowds were so thick that Bette Davis had to enter through the bathroom window to give her welcome speech, the storied dance floor where movie stars danced with soldiers has been the subject of much U.S. nostalgia about the "Greatest Generation." Drawing from oral histories with civilian volunteers and military guests who danced at the wartime nightclub, Sherrie Tucker explores how jitterbugging swing culture has come to represent the war in U.S. national memory. Yet her interviewees' varied experiences and recollections belie the possibility of any singular historical narrative. Some recall racism, sexism, and inequality on the nightclub's dance floor and in Los Angeles neighborhoods, dynamics at odds with the U.S. democratic, egalitarian ideals associated with the Hollywood Canteen and the "Good War" in popular culture narratives. For Tucker, swing dancing's torque—bodies sharing weight, velocity, and turning power without guaranteed outcomes—is an apt metaphor for the jostling narratives, different perspectives, unsteady memories, and quotidian acts that comprise social history.

Author : Christian Goodwillie,Jane F. Crosthwaite
Publisher : Univ of Massachusetts Press
Page : 578 pages
File Size : 52,8 Mb
Release : 2009
Category : Music
ISBN : 1558496939

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The Vietnam War in American Memory by Christian Goodwillie,Jane F. Crosthwaite Pdf

From the beginning in the 1770s, singing was an important part of Shaker worship. In 1812-13 the Shakers published their first hymnal, 'Millennial Praises', which included texts without music. This scholarly edition of the hymnal joins the texts to original Shaker tunes. The CD includes historical recordings of six Shaker songs.

Author : Patrick Hagopian
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 577 pages
File Size : 49,6 Mb
Release : 2009
Category : Electronic books
ISBN : 161376104X

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The Vietnam War in American Memory by Patrick Hagopian Pdf

"A study of American attempts to come to terms with the legacy of the Vietnam War, this book highlights the central role played by Vietnam veterans in shaping public memory of the war. Tracing the evolution of the image of the Vietnam veteran from alienated dissenter to traumatized victim to noble warrior, Patrick Hagopian describes how efforts to commemorate the war increasingly downplayed the political divisions it spawned in favor of a more unifying emphasis on honoring veterans and promoting national 'healing.' Veterans themselves contributed to this process by mobilizing in the early 1980s to create a national memorial dedicated to all Americans who fought and died in Southeast Asia. At the same time, President Ronald Reagan, after failing to convince the public that the war was a 'noble cause, ' seized upon the idea of 'healing' as a way of reaffirming the value of military service and, by extension, countering the effects of the so-called Vietnam syndrome - the widespread fear that any assertive foreign policy initiative might result in 'another Vietnam.' It was with this aim in view, Hagopian reveals, that the Reagan administration worked quietly behind the scenes to ensure that the Vietnam Veterans Memorial would be completed, despite strong conservative opposition to Maya Lin's bold design"--Jacket.

Author : Vernadette Vicuña Gonzalez
Publisher : Duke University Press
Page : 295 pages
File Size : 44,9 Mb
Release : 2013-07-11
Category : History
ISBN : 9780822395942

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Securing Paradise by Vernadette Vicuña Gonzalez Pdf

In Securing Paradise, Vernadette Vicuña Gonzalez shows how tourism and militarism have functioned together in Hawai`i and the Philippines, jointly empowering the United States to assert its geostrategic and economic interests in the Pacific. She does so by interpreting fiction, closely examining colonial and military construction projects, and delving into present-day tourist practices, spaces, and narratives. For instance, in both Hawai`i and the Philippines, U.S. military modes of mobility, control, and surveillance enable scenic tourist byways. Past and present U.S. military posts, such as the Clark and Subic Bases and the Pearl Harbor complex, have been reincarnated as destinations for tourists interested in World War II. The history of the U.S. military is foundational to tourist itineraries and imaginations in such sites. At the same time, U.S. military dominance is reinforced by the logics and practices of mobility and consumption underlying modern tourism. Working in tandem, militarism and tourism produce gendered structures of feeling and formations of knowledge. These become routinized into everyday life in Hawai`i and the Philippines, inculcating U.S. imperialism in the Pacific.

Author : Ian McKay,Jamie Swift
Publisher : Between the Lines
Page : 326 pages
File Size : 49,8 Mb
Release : 2012-05-26
Category : History
ISBN : 9781771130004

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Warrior Nation by Ian McKay,Jamie Swift Pdf

Once known for peacekeeping, Canada is becoming a militarized nation whose apostles—-the New Warriors-—are fighting to shift public opinion. New Warrior zealots seek to transform postwar Canada’s central myth-symbols. Peaceable kingdom. Just society. Multicultural tolerance. Reasoned public debate. Their replacements? A warrior nation. Authoritarian leadership. Permanent political polarization. The tales cast a vivid light on a story that is crucial to Canada’s future; yet they are also compelling history. Swashbuckling marauder William Stairs, the Royal Military College graduate who helped make the Congo safe for European pillage. Vimy Ridge veteran and Second World War general Tommy Burns, leader of the UN’s first big peacekeeping operation, a soldier who would come to call imperialism the monster of the age. Governor General John Buchan, a concentration camp developer and race theorist who is exalted in the Harper government’s new Citizenship Guide. And that uniquely Canadian paradox, Lester Pearson. Warrior Nation is an essential read for those concerned by the relentless effort to conscript Canadian history.

Author : Carole McGranahan,John F. Collins
Publisher : Duke University Press
Page : 560 pages
File Size : 52,5 Mb
Release : 2018-08-24
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781478002086

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Ethnographies of U.S. Empire by Carole McGranahan,John F. Collins Pdf

How do we live in and with empire? The contributors to Ethnographies of U.S. Empire pursue this question by examining empire as an unequally shared present. Here empire stands as an entrenched, if often invisible, part of everyday life central to making and remaking a world in which it is too often presented as an aberration rather than as a structuring condition. This volume presents scholarship from across U.S. imperial formations: settler colonialism, overseas territories, communities impacted by U.S. military action or political intervention, Cold War alliances and fissures, and, most recently, new forms of U.S. empire after 9/11. From the Mohawk Nation, Korea, and the Philippines to Iraq and the hills of New Jersey, the contributors show how a methodological and theoretical commitment to ethnography sharpens all of our understandings of the novel and timeworn ways people live, thrive, and resist in the imperial present. Contributors: Kevin K. Birth, Joe Bryan, John F. Collins, Jean Dennison, Erin Fitz-Henry, Adriana María Garriga-López, Olívia Maria Gomes da Cunha, Matthew Gutmann, Ju Hui Judy Han, J. Kēhaulani Kauanui, Eleana Kim, Heonik Kwon, Soo Ah Kwon, Darryl Li, Catherine Lutz, Sunaina Maira, Carole McGranahan, Sean T. Mitchell, Jan M. Padios, Melissa Rosario, Audra Simpson, Ann Laura Stoler, Fa’anofo Lisaclaire Uperesa, David Vine

Author : Lyle Massey,James Nisbet
Publisher : Univ of California Press
Page : 255 pages
File Size : 55,8 Mb
Release : 2021-11-02
Category : Architecture
ISBN : 9780520306691

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The Invention of the American Desert by Lyle Massey,James Nisbet Pdf

Introduction / Lyle Massey and James Nisbet -- Desolate dreams / Joseph Masco -- Air, wind, breath, life : desertification and Will Wilson's AIR (Auto-Immune Response) / Jessica L. Horton -- Notes from bioteknika / Albert Narath -- Troglodyte modernists / Lyle Massey -- Explosive modernism : Hiram Hudson Benedict's Bouldereign and Zabriskie Point at 50 / Edward Dimendberg -- Point Omega/Omega Point : desert In three parts / Stefanie Sobelle -- The desert in fine grain / Emily Eliza Scott -- The desert as black mythology / Bridget R. Cooks -- On the recalcitrance of the desert island, by way of Andrea Zittel's A-Z West / James Nisbet -- Four theses for the coming deserts / Hans Baumann and Karen Pinkus.

Author : Alan Forrest,Karen Hagemann,Michael Rowe
Publisher : Palgrave Macmillan
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 50,9 Mb
Release : 2016-01-06
Category : History
ISBN : 1137406488

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War, Demobilization and Memory by Alan Forrest,Karen Hagemann,Michael Rowe Pdf

This volume examines the impact of the wars in the Atlantic world between 1770 and 1830, focusing both on the military, economic, political, social and cultural demobilization that occurred immediately at their end, and their long-term legacy and memory.

Author : Brian Ireland
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 262 pages
File Size : 55,5 Mb
Release : 2011
Category : Collective memory
ISBN : 0230311024

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The US Military in Hawai'i by Brian Ireland Pdf

Author : Patrick Finney
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 336 pages
File Size : 50,5 Mb
Release : 2010-09-13
Category : History
ISBN : 9781136932922

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Remembering the Road to World War Two by Patrick Finney Pdf

‘This is comparative history on a grand scale, skilfully analysing complex national debates and drawing major conclusions without ever losing the necessary nuances of interpretation.’ Stefan Berger, University of Manchester, UK Remembering the Road to World War Two is a broad and comparative international survey of the historiography of the origins of the Second World War. It explores how, in the case of each of the major combatant countries, historical writing on the origins of the Second World War has been inextricably entwined with debates over national identity and collective memory. Spanning seven case studies – the Soviet Union, Germany, Italy, France, Great Britain, the United States and Japan – Patrick Finney proposes a fresh approach to the politics of historiography. This provocative volume discusses the political, cultural, disciplinary and archival factors which have contributed to the evolving construction of historical interpretations. It analyses the complex and multi-faceted relationships between texts about the origins of the war, the negotiation of conceptions of national identity and unfolding processes of war remembrance. Offering an innovative perspective on international history and enriching the literature on collective memory, this book will prove fascinating reading for all students of the Second World War.

Author : Yasuko Takezawa,Akio Tanabe
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
Page : 317 pages
File Size : 53,7 Mb
Release : 2022-11-25
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781000784800

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Race and Migration in the Transpacific by Yasuko Takezawa,Akio Tanabe Pdf

Looking at a range of cases from around the Transpacific, the contributors to this book explore the complex formulations of race and racism emerging from transoceanic migrations and encounters in the region. Asia has a history of ceaseless, active, and multidirectional migration, which continues to bear multilayered and complex genetic diversity. The traditional system of rank order between groups of people in Asia consisted of multiple “invisible” differences in variegated entanglements, including descent, birthplace, occupation, and lifestyle. Transpacific migration brought about the formation of multilayered and complex racial relationships, as the physically indistinguishable yet multifacetedly racialized groups encountered the hegemonic racial order deriving from the transatlantic experience of racialization based on “visible” differences. Each chapter in this book examines a different case study, identifying their complexities and particularities while contributing to a broad view of the possibilities for solidarity and human connection in a context of domination and discrimination. These cases include the dispossession of the Ainu people, the experiences of Burakumin emigrants in America, the policing of colonial Singapore, and data governance in India. A fascinating read for sociologists, anthropologists, and historians, especially those with a particular focus on the Asian and Pacific regions.