American anthropologist is the flagship journal of the american anthropological association. Gusterson, hugh, nuclear weapons and the other in the western imagination, cultural. Said 19352003, whose influence on subaltern and postcolonial studies has been remarkable. Gustersons research focuses on the intersection of science and security studies with a particular interest in the ways knowledge claims are made to seem true. Hugh gusterson department of anthropology columbian college. Eight students in the class of 2005 completed hass concentrations in. In brief, because of orientalism the orient was not and is not a free subject of thought or action said 1994, 3. Epik journals online vol 1 iss 4 the web site cannot be found. From this, i will draw on edward saids argument about orientalism and the. Asia in the middlebrow imagination, 19451961, and bruce mcconachies american theater in the culture of the cold war. Author and coeditor of six books, he has written for academic and popular audiences on nuclear.
This divide in rhetoric reveals the presence of what hugh gusterson 1999 calls. However, i shall argue that there is no principled reason as to why. I have been reading about orientalism for a number of years, but most of this book was written during 19751976, which i spent as a fellow at the center for advanced study in the behavioral sciences, stanford. 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. 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. Hugh gusterson is associate professor of anthropology and science studies at the massachusetts institute of technology and professor. Nuclear rites is the resulting ethnographic report. His most recent book, with david williams, is the shapeshifting crown. Book reading and discussion guide for students gusterson, hugh 1996 nuclear rites. Exploring the scientists world of dark humor, ritualized secrecy, and disciplined emotions, anthropologist hugh gusterson uncovers the. This book is the outcome of an initiative by the network of concerned an. Experiments in cyborg culture catalogue for show at the vag vancouver.
This volume contributes to a new anthropology of militarism that has crystallized since the end of the cold war. Fortunately, orientalism elicited a great deal of comment, much. Reviews of the orientalism until now concerning the book we now have orientalism pdf opinions customers are yet to nevertheless still left the article on the experience, or you cannot see clearly yet. 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. Norris and others published hugh gusterson, people of the bomb. Hugh gusterson served as treasurer of the american ethnological society and on the editorial board of anthropological quarterly. Educational activities anthropology classes continued to be popular among undergraduates. This book is the outcome of an initiative by the network of concerned anthropologists, which. This bibliography of anthropology lists some notable publications in the field of anthropology, including its various subfields.
An analysis of the neocolonial discourse on nuclear nonproliferation working papers and proceedings of the center for. Anthropologist hugh gusterson spent several years in livermore, studying the weapons scientists at lawrence livermore national laboratories. It is hard to exaggerate the cultural influence of edward said and his celebrated 1978 work, orientalism, observes windschuttle, author of the killing of history 1997. Ueno toshiya, japanimation and techno orientalism, in bruce grenville, editor, the uncanny. A weapons laboratory at the end of the cold war by hugh gusterson.
Beyond this, obviously, work on nuclear weapons raises special ethical questions. Militarization place, and territory, introduction 167. An analysis of the neocolonial discourse on nuclear nonproliferation working papers and proceedings of the center for psychosocial studies gusterson, hugh on. As part of its culture under attack season, the imperial war museum in london is staging a new exhibition 5 july 2019 5 january 2020, what remains from the nazi theft of art and the bombing of coventry cathedral to the destruction by isis of objects from mosul museum in iraq, war devastates lives, kills people and destroys the cultural heritage that they hoped would outlive them. Hugh gusterson elliott school of international affairs. Full text of orientalism see other formats orientalism this essay will discuss the concept of orientalism as particularly elaborated by edward w. Iran and its sovereign right to nuclear capabilities al jazeera. This legacy of austerityfuelled xenophobia is well captured by. Viewing nuclear weapons through a humanitarian lens unidir. In north america, anthropology is traditionally divided into four major subdisciplines. Based on fieldwork at the lawrence livermore national laboratorythe facility that designed the neutron bomb and the warhead for the mx. The chapters in this book provide information and analysis from diverse perspectives.
He received fellowships and awards from macarthur foundation. Hugh gusterson is a professor of anthropology and international. 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. The first generation of weapons scientists worked in an atmosphere of international emergency and felt that a nuclear war was quite possible. Wiley on behalf of the american anthropological association. Gusterson nuclear weapons and the other in western imagination. World weavers kin yuen wong, gary westfahl, amy kitsze chan published by hong kong university press, hku wong, kin yuen, et al. I got to meet hugh gusterson this year at a conference. Exploring the scientists world of dark humor, ritualized secrecy, and disciplined emotions, anthropologist hugh gusterson uncovers the beliefs and values. Gusterson begins with an exploration of the backgrounds of workers at the laboratories and why they chose to. 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. In necropolitics achille mbembe, a leader in the new wave of francophone critical theory, theorizes the genealogy of the contemporary worlda world plagued by everincreasing inequality, militarization, enmity, and terror, as well as by a resurgence of racist, fascist, and nationalist forces determined to exclude and kill. Although san francisco was an hour away, at that time, livermore could best be described as a cultural backwater.
Hugh gusterson is a professor of anthropology and international affairs at the george washington university. Here gusterson uses edward saids construct of orientalism as the wests ten. File history click on a datetime to view the file as it appeared at that time. An early critical point made by gusterson is his identification of two competing regimes of truth. Nuclear orientalism in his controversial book orientalism, edward said argues that once a group has been orientalized, then virtually anything can be written or said about it, without challenge or demurral. Aug 24, 2016 what presumptions about rationality and irrationality as it exists in the world end up servicing an argument for continued us fingers on the nuclear button. Islam and political power is wholly at the service not of knowledge but of an aggressive and interventionary state the u. Anthropological analysis of militarism focuses on the social construction of. Until now concerning the book we now have orientalism pdf opinions customers are yet to nevertheless still left the article on the experience, or you cannot see clearly yet. Nuclear weapons and the other in the western imagination. Although, when you have presently look at this guide and you are able to create their results convincingly ask you to spend time to leave an evaluation on our site we will. 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.
Nuclear rites by hugh gusterson paperback university. The journal advances the associations mission through publishing articles that add to, integrate, synthesize, and interpret anthropological knowledge. 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. An interview with hugh gusterson bulletin of the atomic. Orientalism is very much a book tied to the tumultuous dynamics of contemporary history. When you think of anthropologists, you think of people who study cannibals in new.
Hugh gusterson s analysis of what he calls nuclear orientalism the idea that the nuclear other cannot be trusted with nuclear weaponsplays on racialized stereotypes of asia and the middle east. Anthropologist hugh gusterson labels this nuclear orientalisma racialized. 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. However, not far beneath any discussion of uranium, nuclear power, or nuclear weapons is a discourse of largely western, northern domination over the southern, formerly third, world. In this essay, we explore a phenomenon we call neoorientalisma mode of representation which, while indebted to classical orientalism, engenders new tropes of othering. Aug 05, 2003 orientalism is very much a book tied to the tumultuous dynamics of contemporary history. Iran and its sovereign right to nuclear capabilities al. Portraits of americas nuclear complex uc press, 1996. Second, i would not want it to be thought that the license afforded me by the present occasion is an attempt to answer my critics.
Nuclear rites by hugh gusterson paperback university of. Edward saids orientalism revisited by keith windschuttle, in the new criterion jan. When you think of anthropologists, you think of people who study cannibals in new guinea, people in. Nuclear orientalism is the term that hugh gusterson uses to describe the widely shared perception of third world or nonwestern nuclear. Moreover, so authoritative a position did orientalism have that i believe no one writing, thinking, or acting on the orient could do so without taking account of the limitations on thought and action imposed by orientalism. Its first page opens with a 1975 description of the lebanese civil war that ended in 1990, but the violence. Vol 9, no 2 journal of cold war studies mit press journals. Producing and contesting containment, 19471962, both participate in and expand the conversation around the ideological work of u. A doubleblind, placebocontrolled investigation of the efficacy of modafinil for sustaining the alertness and performance of aviators. Not quite as hypocritical as bernard lewis, but no less uncritical, are younger ideologues and orientalists like daniel pipes whose expertise as demonstrated in his book in the path of god. Based on many years of fieldwork, the book reconstructs the u. In this unique and generous insti tution, it was my good fortune not only to have benefitted agreeably. Other readers will always be interested in your opinion of the books youve read. Hugh gusterson department of anthropology columbian.
Locating the state in postcolonial australia, canada, new. 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. Dec 03, 2019 posts about books written by derek gregory. Smart guy who knows a lot about the nuclear industry. A postcolonial analysis of indiaunited states nuclear security. It is not comprehensive and continues to be developed. I have spent this much time talking about pipes only because he usefully serves to make some points about orientalism s large political setting, which is routinely denied and suppressed in the sort of claim proposed by its main spokesman, bernard lewis, who has the effrontery to disassociate orientalism from its 200 year old partnership with. Western alarmism about the dangers of nuclear weapons in third world hands was par ticularly evident. April 2006 mit center for international studies of the.
Watch and read here the full transcript of anthropologist hugh gustersons tedx talk. In the first section, i shall focus on four common arguments against nuclear proliferation as hugh gusterson sets out in his article. From this, i will draw on edward saids argument about orientalism and the eastern and western world. Nonetheless, these books with the exception of some chapters that are mentioned below, and to some extent basrurs book, explain issues of south asian security from a conventionalempirical framework of politics.
Nov 10, 2016 watch and read here the full transcript of anthropologist hugh gustersons tedx talk. Gusterson begins with an exploration of the backgrounds of workers at the laboratories and why they chose to work there. In this book, gusterson argues that in order to understand powerful political forms, it is necessary not only to understand what the ideology tell us about the nature the. Book reading and discussion guide for students university. Articles in the journal draw on declassified materials and new memoirs to illuminate and raise questions about numerous historical and theoretical concerns. Whether youve loved the book or not, if you give your honest and detailed thoughts then people will find new books that are right for them. America, britain and pakistans nuclear weapons programme. 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. For example, fritz langs film metropolis, cited in the vag show as an important moment in the history of the cyborg, inspired japanese cultural. A weapons laboratory at the end of the cold war 1996, is so rich, so packed with myriad concepts, that it is difficult to decide where to launch a discussion about it. Minneapolis find, read and cite all the research you need. Comparative political theory and the exit from orientalism. Interpreting the nuclear nonproliferation treaty daniel h.
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