Bodies in Conflict: From Gettysburg to Iraq

The exhibition Bodies in Conflict: From Gettysburg to Iraq not only conveys an ambitious geographic and historical range, but also reflects the sensitivity, ambition, and thoughtfulness of its curator, Laura Bergin ’17. In examining how the human figure is represented in prints and photographs of modern war and political conflict, Laura considers how journalistic photographs, artistic interpretations, and other visual documentation of conflict and its aftermath compare between wars and across historical periods. Specific objects include a print and photographs from the Civil War, propaganda posters from World Wars I and II, photographs and a protest poster from the Vietnam War, and a large-scale photograph of a reconstructed journalistic image of Saddam Hussein’s palace by Iraqi-born contemporary artist Wafaa Bilal. Taken together, the works in the exhibition make a profound political and humanitarian statement about suffering, heroism, death, compassion, and appeals to nationalism throughout wars over the last 150 years. [excerpt]https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/artcatalogs/1018/thumbnail.jp

Political protest against the transnational constellation

Global capitalism is a transnational “operational space” (Sassen) which is (re)produced by the practices of states, policy- and issue-specific government networks, and private organizations such as transnational corporations, global law firms, and standard-setting agencies. This “operational space,” which I call the transnational constellation, works through and beyond distinct spatial settings (i.e. local, glocal, national, global), endowing them with a global financial capitalistic logic and limiting the scope of democratic self-determination. In the second section, I analyze political protest against this transnational constellation in terms of democratic theory. I argue that transnational protest and activism have to be appreciated for their reshaping of spaces of the political, for developing and delivering a genuinely global perspective on political problems, and for their politicization of the transnational constellation by revealing and contesting structures and strategies of domination. However, it would be misleading to conceive of protest against the transnational constellation as constituent power. Instead, as I argue in the third part of the article, this kind of protest enacts a parallel world which very often lasts only for a fleeting moment, but where alternative political and social life forms are exercised and experienced. Perhaps their time is yet to come

Bert the Turtle Won\u27t Save You: American Science Fiction Prose and Criticism of Nuclear Civil Defense During the 1950s

During the early 1950s (the “Bert the Turtle” era of nuclear civil defense planning), federal civil defense authorities in the United States chose to all but ignore the effects of radiation in an effort to portray nuclear weapons as large conventional weapons. The focus of civil defense planning changed from protection from blast and heat to evacuation and, finally, home fallout shelters in the face of increasing weapons capability and knowledge of the effects of nuclear weapons over the course of the 1950s. This paper examines how changes in civil defense planning and assumptions are reflected in five examples of 1950s American science fiction prose critical of nuclear civil defense policy, beginning with William Tenn’s “Generation of Noah” (1951) and ending with Helen Clarkson’s The Last Day (1959). Secondly, this paper compares criticism in works of science fiction prose to other forms of literary and artistic protest against nuclear civil defense. The significant increase in other forms of protest that began in 1957 grew into a huge outpouring by the early 1960s. This argues that science fiction prose was not only among the first forms of artistic and literary protest against nuclear civil defense but was also one of the only, if not the only, significant form of protest against the civil defense policies that predated the official focus on home fallout shelters

Towards a critique of anti-German 'communism'

The spectre of anti-Germans has easily become the Feindbild for activists of the Anglophone Left; yet rarely does this translate into fundamental or informed criticism of the anti-German premise. This article, then, offers an introductory description and a critical analysis of pro-Israeli, anti-German communism in its context within the post-war German Left and as a contemporary protest movement that sits oddly on the fringes of radical politics. Its origins and politics are examined to depict the radicalisation of a broad anti-nationalist campaign against German re-unification, and its evolution into a small but coherent anti-German movement, controversial for its pro-Israel polemics and provocations. Current debates within the anti-fascist German Left are reviewed to explore anti-German positions on the Holocaust, Israel, Islam, anti-imperialism and Germany’s foreign policy. Theoretical works that have heavily influenced anti-German communism are discussed to comprehend the movement’s intellectual inspirations. The purpose of the article is to introduce one of Germany’s most controversial protest movements to an English-speaking audience and to hint at the formulation of a critique that is more than a knee-jerk reaction to pro-Israeli agitation

Human rights and refugee protest against immigration detention: Refugees' struggles for recognition as human

When detainees go on hunger strike or riot or occupy the roofs of detention centres, their actions are usually narrated by governments keen to discredit them and their actions as criminal and manipulative and evidence of their barbarity and difference. A secondary, counter-narration is provided by detainee supporters who explain the actions as evidence of detainees' distress and deteriorating mental health. The voices of the actors themselves, people held in detention and taking protest action, are rarely heard in depth. Drawing on in-depth interviews with refugees formerly held in Australian immigration detention centres, and the works of Hannah Arendt, this article argues that the experience of immigration detention is fundamentally dehumanizing and that while detainee protest was aimed at attaining certain material outcomes, it also served important existential functions. The fact of protest was a rejection of a powerless state, a way for detained refugees to experience their own agency and, with it, restoration of some of the "essential characteristics of human life" and a means to use their reduction to "bare humanity" as a basis for insisting upon a place in the polis

Marxism and Cultural Studies in the Development of Axel Honneth’s Theory of Recognition

This essay analyses the interaction between Marxism and Cultural Studies in the genesis of Honneth’s theory of recognition. I reconstruct the passages through which Honneth, by drawing on the writings of some of the major cultural theorists and in reference to the works of the young Marx, develops the conceptual foundations of his paradigm (I), with special attention to the themes of social labour and the relationship between work and recognition (II). I then point out the epistemic and practical qualities of Honneth’s theory in relation to its origins in Marxism and Cultural Studies; notably its capacity of detecting even the forms of social protest which have not yet reached the threshold of public expression, and its providing an explanation for those revolts which would otherwise seem to be only led by destructive rage (III)

State-Directed Political Protest in US Capital Cities: 1998-2001

Using a new dataset, we analyze four years of political protest events in US state capitals, in order to specify the processes and possibilities for collective action at the state level. Drawing from resource mobilization/political process theory, we test hypotheses regarding density of activist communities, political culture, social capital, administrative capacities, and political processes in affecting the number of protests, rallies, and demonstrations directed at state government. We find that the most important factors include the density of contentious communities of individuals (specifically university students), political culture, Democratic Party control of government, and the option to use direct legislation (a negative effect), while administrative capacity, generalized social capital, and party competition have no effects. We also find strong positive baseline effects for the population size of the state, the relative importance of the capital compared to other cities, and urbanization. We argue that these findings illustrate how aggregate levels of state-level political protest arise out of collective action processes and the mobilization of small groups, as mediated through stable cultural repertoires of political tactics and moderated by certain political opportunities and processes.This publication is Hauser Center Working Paper No. 13. The Hauser Center Working Paper Series was launched during the summer of 2000. The Series enables the Hauser Center to share with a broad audience important works-in-progress written by Hauser Center scholars and researchers

India’s Narmada dams controversy: interdisciplinary examples of global media advocacy

What sources will contemporary historians use when they reflect on resistance to globalisation by regional and environmental groups such as India's NBA (Narmada Bachao Andolan or 'Save the Narmada Movement')? As the country is the world's third most important dam builder, consistent mass protest against construction of the 3,200 Narmada dams in this enormous river valley over almost 20 years must surely merit further study. Campaigners seem to have developed a sense of history, but how do some of their most well-known international works of communication conform to existing models of media advocacy? This article assesses the nature of two documentary films - Anand Patwardhan's (with Simantini Dhuru) A Narmada Diary (1997) and Fanny Armstrong's Drowned Out (2004) - and the writings of Arundhati Roy, all emanating from the Narmada Dams controversy. As works of advocacy, these media communications popularised the Narmada conflict internationally, and in the process also championed fresh styles of communication. These three works represent interdisciplinary examples which, through their narratives and styles, have brought an extended creative and political repertoire of 'engaged' journalism on development issues to mainstream outlets outside of India. These examples allow us to test the continuing relevance of certain aspects of counter-hegemonic discourses, as presented in existing academic work

Emotional-philosophical dominants in Annette von Droste-Hulshof's life and creative work

UK: Стаття присвячена аналізу робіт шести німецьких Дростезнавців щодо важливості категорії смирення і протесту у житті та творчості Аннетте фон Дросте-Гюльсхоф. EN: The article analyses six researches in Droste studies concerning resignation and protest category in Annette von Droste-Hulshoff's life and works

Social Impacts of Popular Culture During the Vietnam War

In this paper, I will argue that popular culture is imperative to a population overcoming and learning from a time of economical, political, and social turmoil. Focusing on the Vietnam War, I will demonstrate how common it is for people to rely on popular culture for hope and education during times of crises and it is often that music, movies, or artwork are those outlets. By dissecting the messages of other popular songs recorded during the Vietnam War while also examining books like The Vietnam War and American Music written by David James and Songs of the Vietnam Conflict by James Perone, I deliver evidence on the importance of popular culture when it is needed most. In addition, I use the films produced depicting the war to demonstrate the ways pop culture can serve as a learning tool after a crisis