Planting a seed for ASA 2013 -- Militarization of American Culture

[Aaron O'Connell]

Hello War and Peace Studies Folks - 

I'm so sorry to miss the Vieques panel and the conference this year -- Puerto Rico was just a little bit too expensive this time around.  

But, per David's email below, I wanted to use the list for a little shameless self-promotion and to plant a seed for next year's conference (to be held here in  Washington DC). 

I am now preparing a roundtable proposal for the 2013 ASA on "The Militarization of American Culture." I have three scholars that are interested in discussing how military ideologies, metaphors, narratives, images, and habits of mind have increasingly affected American culture since 1945. All we need now is a conference chair to give our little group the appropriate amount of scholarly gravitas.

Any suggestions?  In your opinion, what established scholar has done the best work on the military's impact on American culture since WWII?  Cynthia K. Enloe, Catherine A. Lutz, Beth Bailey, and Michael S. Sherry are the ones that occur to me.  Whom else should we consider inviting? 

On a related note, my first book, Underdogs: The Making of the Modern Marine Corps, comes out next month.  If interested,  you can watch a short film about it here:  

http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674058279

My best to you all for a great conference, 

Aaron

-- 

Aaron B. O'Connell

Assistant Professor of History

U.S. Naval Academy

aoco...@usna.edu

(410) 293-6298

On Oct 4, 2012, at 4:12 PM, David Kieran wrote:

Hello War and Peace Studies Caucus Members,

I hope everyone's semester is off to a great start. The War and Peace Studies Caucus will be meeting from 2:00 to 3:45 on Saturday, November 17, in Foyer A of the Puerto Rico Convention Center. I hope that you will all take time from the program and San Juan to join us. Over the past few years we've made great strides in creating opportunities for more war and peace related panels and roundtables at ASA, and for better networking, particularly between senior and junior scholars and graduate students. This meeting will be an opportunity to build on this momentum and also to talk about new directions.

I welcome suggestions for agenda items, etc.

Hopefully before the meeting I will have time to send out a list of panels of interest; in the mean time, I encourage you to use the group to publicize your own panel, recently published writing, or other relevant information.

One event that I hope you will all consider attending is the Roundtable that the Caucus is sponsoring on Vieques. We discussed this last year at out business meeting and thought it crucial given ASA's location. Several of you worked very hard to make it happen, and the result is a panel that brings together academics from a variety of fields with activists, folks working both in the U.S. and in Puerto Rico. I will post the information below.

I'm looking forward to seeing you all in San Juan.

Best,

Dave

David Kieran

Visiting Assistant Professor

American Studies

Franklin and Marshall

Scheduled Time: Fri, Nov 16 - 2:00pm - 3:45pm  Building/Room: Puerto Rico Convention Center, 101A Title Displayed in Event Calendar: Vieques Struggle: Political, Social and Historical Significance

Session Participants:

Chair: Marie Cruz-Soto (New York University (NY))  Panelist: Robert Rabin (El Museo Fuerte Conde Mirasol (PR))  Panelist: Bonnie Donohue (School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston (MA))  Panelist: Nilda Medina Díaz (Incubadora de Microempresas Bieke (PR))  Panelist: Marie Cruz-Soto (New York University (NY))

Abstract:

Puerto Rico inhabits a liminal space. It is a colony, in fact the oldest in the world, of an Empire that denies its imperial identity. As a “non-incorporated territory,” it is neither a full member of the U.S body politic, nor a simple chapter in U.S. mainstream history books. Like all in-between spaces, Puerto Rico’s situation remains, for the most part, out of sight— within U.S. Public discourse —and seldom acknowledged— within mainstream academia. Vieques anti-military social movement changed all this. In a struggle for their lives— and against a military that was tainting their environment and poisoning their bodies —Vieques social movement not only succeeded in expelling the U.S. Navy from the island, but also in bringing to international attention the colonial situation. Sponsored by the War and Peace Studies Caucus of the American Studies Association, this roundtable will discuss the political, social and historical significance of Vieques’ anti-military struggle. The discussion will be led by important activists and academics that participated in and studied the movement. Some of the themes to be discussed include: the relationship between culture, colonialism, and the global presence of the U.S. military; the environmental legacies of U.S. war making; the racial and ethnic dimensions of U.S. militarism; the politics of local and transnational community organizing and activism; and the politics of tourism, among others.