However, the term nuclear family can mean several different things in todays society. An interview with hugh gusterson bulletin of the atomic. 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. 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.
Nuclear weapons and the other in the western imagination hugh gusterson massachusetts institute of technology think. The reagan administration talked publicly about nuclear weapons as a way to win a nuclear war. The power and importance of discourse conventions in the cold war are revealed through their breach. Epik journals online vol 1 iss 4 the web site cannot be found. Nuclear orientalism is the term that hugh gusterson uses to describe the widely shared perception of third world or nonwestern nuclear. Anthropologist hugh gusterson spent several years in livermore, studying the weapons scientists at lawrence livermore national laboratories. Reviewed by paul rubinson published on hpeace july, 2005 in november 2001, the american council of trustees and alumni, headed by lynne cheney.
Clearly, the demise of orientalism cannot be cause for lament. 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. The marshall islands and its radioactive legacy 181. Exploring the scientists world of dark humor, ritualized secrecy, and disciplined emotions, anthropologist hugh gusterson uncovers the beliefs and. From this, i will draw on edward saids argument about orientalism and the eastern and western world. Nuclear rites by hugh gusterson paperback university. Articles in the journal draw on declassified materials and new memoirs to illuminate and raise questions about numerous historical and theoretical concerns. 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. Newsletter includes comments by hugh gusterson, david price and felix moos on the prisp scheme. 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. 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. In 2003, after the infamous yellow cake from niger, africa suddenly became notorious as a source of uranium, a component of nuclear weapons. We argue that the copenhagen schools understanding of securitisation dynamics provides an adequate methodological starting point for such.
The head of the oxford university anthropology department, in cherwell online 10. The marshall islands and its radioactive legacy barbara rose. Author and coeditor of six books, he has written for academic and popular audiences on nuclear. Nuclear weapons and the other in the western imagination. Exploring the scientists world of dark humor, ritualized secrecy, and disciplined emotions, anthropologist hugh gusterson uncovers the beliefs and values. This bibliography of anthropology lists some notable publications in the field of anthropology, including its various subfields.
Bjork, public policy argumentation and colonialist ideology in the postcold war era, in warranting assent. It is not comprehensive and continues to be developed. When you think of anthropologists, you think of people who study cannibals in new guinea, people in. Militarization place, and territory, introduction 167 roberto j. The size and capabilities of the wests nuclear arsenal are not, apart.
Nuclear rites by hugh gusterson paperback university of. In this project, i examine kazakhstans shifting relationship to nuclear technology in the twentyfirst century against the backdrop of its antinuclear experience. 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. Feb 24, 2011 see edward said, orientalism new york. Gusterson begins with an exploration of the backgrounds of workers at the laboratories and why they chose to. This divide in rhetoric reveals the presence of what hugh gusterson 1999 calls. People in the third world, according to this view, cannot be. April 2006 mit center for international studies of the. Gusterson suggests that this was facilitated with the deployment of subtle orientalist ideologies by the. Hugh gusterson is a professor of anthropology and international affairs at george washington university. In this essay, we explore a phenomenon we call neoorientalisma mode of representation which, while indebted to classical orientalism, engenders new tropes of othering.
Although san francisco was an hour away, at that time, livermore could best be described as a cultural backwater. Said claims that western scholarship prepared the way for the extension of colonial rule over the middle east and north africa. Hugh gusterson is associate professor of anthropology and science studies at the massachusetts institute of technology and professor. 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. American anthropologist is the flagship journal of the american anthropological association. 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. 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.
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. Comparative political theory and the exit from orientalism. Wiley on behalf of the american anthropological association. Inherent within orientalism is the assumption that only a western power could be civilized and serve as a global hegemony.
A postcolonial analysis of indiaunited states nuclear security. Hugh gusterson served as treasurer of the american ethnological society and on the editorial board of anthropological quarterly. Gusterson begins with an exploration of the backgrounds of workers at the laboratories and why they chose to work there. 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. Watch and read here the full transcript of anthropologist hugh gustersons tedx talk. Toward a public sociology considering the occupation of the west bank. This legacy of austerityfuelled xenophobia is well captured by.
Richard clarke and other authors like anthropologist hugh gusterson warn of apocalyptic visions mixing with nuclear capabilities. As north korea doubles down on its nuclear weapons, trump and the us are stuck with strategic patience at the center for international studies, a student endowment for women in international affairs. When you think of anthropologists, you think of people who study cannibals in new. 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. Vol 9, no 2 journal of cold war studies mit press journals. Eight students in the class of 2005 completed hass concentrations in. This divide in rhetoric reveals the presence of what hugh gusterson 1999 calls nuclear orientalism. Exploring the scientists world of dark humor, ritualized secrecy, and disciplined emotions, anthropologist hugh gusterson uncovers the. Hugh gusterson department of anthropology columbian. Anthropological analysis of militarism focuses on the social construction of security.
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. Orientalism is a critique of the centuriesold academic field of oriental studies, the study of cultures in the arab world. The dominant discourse that stabilizes this system of nuclear apartheid in western ideology was labeled orientalism albeit in a different context by edward said. Postcolonial perspectives on nuclear non proliferation. 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. People in the third world, according to this view, cannot be trusted. However, i shall argue that there is no principled reason as to why.
A weapons laboratory at the end of the cold war by hugh gusterson. Gusterson, hugh, nuclear weapons and the other in the western imagination, cultural anthopology, 141, 1999, p111143. Nov 10, 2016 watch and read here the full transcript of anthropologist hugh gustersons tedx talk. Hugh gusterson is a professor of anthropology and international affairs at the george washington university.
This volume contributes to a new anthropology of militarism that has crystallized since the end of the cold war. Are nuclear weapons keeping the indiapakistan crisis from escalating or making it more dangerous. Iran and its sovereign right to nuclear capabilities al. Uranium from africa has long been a major source of fuel for nuclear power and atomic weapons, including the bomb dropped on hiroshima. America, britain and pakistans nuclear weapons programme. The journal advances the associations mission through publishing articles that add to, integrate, synthesize, and interpret anthropological knowledge. Feeling at home with counterinsurgency in the united states 157 catherine lutz. Militarization, place, and territory introduction roberto j. As far back as my visit to israel in november 2006, i examined headlines of israeli newspapershaaretz and othersand i was shocked by. The following sections will demonstrate how the eurocentric nature of neorealist and liberal.
More bang for your buck 239 on all source or fissile material. 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. File history click on a datetime to view the file as it appeared at that time. First of all, it would change the balance of power.
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