The following sections will demonstrate how the eurocentric nature of neorealist and liberal. Hugh gusterson is a professor of anthropology and international affairs at the george washington university. Watch and read here the full transcript of anthropologist hugh gustersons tedx talk. More bang for your buck 239 on all source or fissile material. A postcolonial analysis of indiaunited states nuclear security. From this, i will draw on edward saids argument about orientalism and the eastern and western world. Overall, the book assembles a disturbing picture of the ways in which the militaryindustrial complex has transformed our public culture and personal psychology in the half century since we entered the nuclear age.
The traditional definition of a nuclear family is a family unit that includes two married parents of opposite genders and their biological or adopted children living in the same residence. The current international nuclear discourse presents bipolar images between us, in which the u. Gusterson suggests that this was facilitated with the deployment of subtle orientalist ideologies by the. However, i shall argue that there is no principled reason as to why. Clearly, the demise of orientalism cannot be cause for lament. Nuclear orientalism is the term that hugh gusterson uses to describe the widely shared perception of third world or nonwestern nuclear. Militarization place, and territory, introduction 167 roberto j. Feeling at home with counterinsurgency in the united states 157 catherine lutz. The dominant discourse that stabilizes this system of nuclear apartheid in western ideology was labeled orientalism albeit in a different context by edward said. Iran and its sovereign right to nuclear capabilities al. File history click on a datetime to view the file as it appeared at that time. Orientalism, by producing knowledge about the other as something to be feared, targeted, or even saved, underlies the complicity of western powers in governing the nonwestern world. Are nuclear weapons keeping the indiapakistan crisis from escalating or making it more dangerous.
The journal advances the associations mission through publishing articles that add to, integrate, synthesize, and interpret anthropological knowledge. Postcolonial perspectives on nuclear non proliferation. Vol 9, no 2 journal of cold war studies mit press journals. This divide in rhetoric reveals the presence of what hugh gusterson 1999 calls nuclear orientalism. Nuclear weapons and the other in the western imagination hugh gusterson massachusetts institute of technology think. Exploring the scientists world of dark humor, ritualized secrecy, and disciplined emotions, anthropologist hugh gusterson uncovers the beliefs and values. Nuclear weapons and the other in the western imagination. Nuclear orientalism according to the literature on risk in anthropology, shared fears often reveal as much about the identities and solidarities of the. When you think of anthropologists, you think of people who study cannibals in new. Still, even while welcoming new departures, one may plausibly be concerned about the man ner of the demise, that is, the way in which the exit from orientalism is.
Eight students in the class of 2005 completed hass concentrations in. Inherent within orientalism is the assumption that only a western power could be civilized and serve as a global hegemony. The size and capabilities of the wests nuclear arsenal are not, apart. Gusterson s research focuses on the intersection of science and security studies with a particular interest in the ways knowledge claims are made to seem true. However, the term nuclear family can mean several different things in todays society. American anthropologist is the flagship journal of the american anthropological association. Exploring the scientists world of dark humor, ritualized secrecy, and disciplined emotions, anthropologist hugh gusterson uncovers the beliefs and. Gusterson argues that american military dominance is often successfully sold to the public as selfevident, humanitarian, or arising from providential destiny, not conscious political decisions. Wiley on behalf of the american anthropological association.
Toward a public sociology considering the occupation of the west bank. Uranium from africa has long been a major source of fuel for nuclear power and atomic weapons, including the bomb dropped on hiroshima. Hugh gusterson department of anthropology columbian. This legacy of austerityfuelled xenophobia is well captured by. The head of the oxford university anthropology department, in cherwell online 10. Based on fieldwork at the lawrence livermore national laboratorythe facility that designed the neutron bomb and the warhead for the mx missile nuclear rites takes the reader deep inside the topsecret culture of a nuclear weapons lab. Epik journals online vol 1 iss 4 the web site cannot be found. America, britain and pakistans nuclear weapons programme, 19741980. Hugh gusterson is associate professor of anthropology and science studies at the massachusetts institute of technology and professor. Gusterson begins with an exploration of the backgrounds of workers at the laboratories and why they chose to work there. His research focuses on the interdisciplinary study of. In 2003, after the infamous yellow cake from niger, africa suddenly became notorious as a source of uranium, a component of nuclear weapons. Gusterson, hugh, nuclear weapons and the other in the western imagination, cultural anthopology, 141, 1999, p111143.
People in the third world, according to this view, cannot be trusted. We argue that the copenhagen schools understanding of securitisation dynamics provides an adequate methodological starting point for such. Newsletter includes comments by hugh gusterson, david price and felix moos on the prisp scheme. Militarization, place, and territory introduction roberto j. Oct 30, 1996 based on fieldwork at the lawrence livermore national laboratorythe facility that designed the neutron bomb and the warhead for the mx missilenuclear rites takes the reader deep inside the topsecret culture of a nuclear weapons lab. As far back as my visit to israel in november 2006, i examined headlines of israeli newspapershaaretz and othersand i was shocked by. Aug 24, 2016 nuclear orientalism is the term that hugh gusterson uses to describe the widely shared perception of third world or nonwestern nuclear irrationality visavis presumptions of the safe and reliable possession of nuclear weapons by western nuclear democracies gusterson, 1999. Scientific involution across three generations of nuclear weapons science hugh gusterson in science studies we hear a lot about the construction of facts, the building of networks, and the growth of disciplines, but much less about the withering, decay, or arte. Mary mcgrory, for example, wrote in her column in the washington post that two large, poor countries in desperate need of schools, hospitals, and education are strewing billions of dollars for nuclear development.
This divide in rhetoric reveals the presence of what hugh gusterson 1999 calls. The primary objective of this article is to theorise transformations of western order in a manner that does not presuppose a fixed understanding of the west as a preconstituted political space, readymade and waiting for social scientific enquiry. America, britain and pakistans nuclear weapons programme. Hugh gusterson is a professor of anthropology and international affairs at george washington university.
It also includes a number of works that are not by anthropologists but are relevant to the field, such as literary theory, sociology, psychology, and philosophical anthropology. Nov 15, 2017 in the first section, i shall focus on four common arguments against nuclear proliferation as hugh gusterson sets out in his article, nuclear weapons and the other in the western imagination. Gusterson begins with an exploration of the backgrounds of workers at the laboratories and why they chose to. People in the third world, according to this view, cannot be. April 2006 mit center for international studies of the. This volume contributes to a new anthropology of militarism that has crystallized since the end of the cold war. Orientalism is a critique of the centuriesold academic field of oriental studies, the study of cultures in the arab world. Anthropological analysis of militarism focuses on the social construction of security.
Anthropologist hugh gusterson spent several years in livermore, studying the weapons scientists at lawrence livermore national laboratories. The marshall islands and its radioactive legacy 181. I first moved to livermore, a town of about 55,000, in the late 1980s to begin an anthropological study of lawrence livermore national laboratory and its surroundings. Nuclear rites is the resulting ethnographic report. The treatment of the american native corresponds to a quasiorientalist practice of denigrating the enemy that is said, albeit somewhat due to linguistic confusion, to date back to herodotus persians 24, and persists today in relation to iran and north korea as. Bjork, public policy argumentation and colonialist ideology in the postcold war era, in warranting assent. Said claims that western scholarship prepared the way for the extension of colonial rule over the middle east and north africa. First of all, it would change the balance of power. Nov 10, 2016 watch and read here the full transcript of anthropologist hugh gustersons tedx talk. Unlike scholars in mainstream security studies and political science, anthropologists treat militarism as a process rather than a reified, measurable quantum acting as an independent variable.
This bibliography of anthropology lists some notable publications in the field of anthropology, including its various subfields. Feb 24, 2011 see edward said, orientalism new york. Educational activities anthropology classes continued to be popular among undergraduates. A weapons laboratory at the end of the cold war by hugh gusterson. Richard clarke and other authors like anthropologist hugh gusterson warn of apocalyptic visions mixing with nuclear capabilities. Nuclear rites by hugh gusterson paperback university of. The marshall islands and its radioactive legacy barbara rose. Nuclear rites by hugh gusterson paperback university. Author and coeditor of six books, he has written for academic and popular audiences on nuclear. An interview with hugh gusterson bulletin of the atomic. When you think of anthropologists, you think of people who study cannibals in new guinea, people in. Reviewed by paul rubinson published on hpeace july, 2005 in november 2001, the american council of trustees and alumni, headed by lynne cheney.
Hugh gusterson served as treasurer of the american ethnological society and on the editorial board of anthropological quarterly. The reagan administration talked publicly about nuclear weapons as a way to win a nuclear war. Exploring the scientists world of dark humor, ritualized secrecy, and disciplined emotions, anthropologist hugh gusterson uncovers the. In this essay, we explore a phenomenon we call neoorientalisma mode of representation which, while indebted to classical orientalism, engenders new tropes of othering. The first has to do with what the anthropologist hugh gusterson called nuclear orientalismthe idea that we can live with nuclear weapons in the hands of the five permanent members of the security council, but proliferation to third world countries is enormously dangerous. Although san francisco was an hour away, at that time, livermore could best be described as a cultural backwater. Based on fieldwork at the lawrence livermore national laboratorythe facility that designed the neutron bomb and the warhead for the mx missilenuclear rites takes the reader deep inside the topsecret culture of a nuclear weapons lab. Comparative political theory and the exit from orientalism. The power and importance of discourse conventions in the cold war are revealed through their breach. It is not comprehensive and continues to be developed. In this project, i examine kazakhstans shifting relationship to nuclear technology in the twentyfirst century against the backdrop of its antinuclear experience. Articles in the journal draw on declassified materials and new memoirs to illuminate and raise questions about numerous historical and theoretical concerns.
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