Jose Salinas
posted by Jamie Skye Bianco @ 7:26 PM
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Rhetorics of Catastrophe
Welcome to the RESEARCH BLOG spot for Prof. Bianco's English 391W. Your weekly comments should be posted under your name, and only you can add to your own text. You will post your research paragraph and two sources under your name by clicking "Comments" and pasting your composed paragraph and sources. But first, read others' Comments because once someone has selected a research source, you may not use it.
9 Comments:
War On Terror:
US vs. US
Morris states, “[That] in a war against drugs or terrorism, one is at war against crime and criminality”. (150-51) When taking into account the steps taken by the Bush Administration post-9/11, especially with the adoption of the USA Patriot Act, one can easily argue that the “crime” which Morris refers to does not necessarily have to be “terror” related.
As most of us are well aware by now, The Patriot Act is an attack on our civil liberties. For example, in Chalmers Johnson’s The Sorrows Of Empire, he speaks about how Americans, whether involved in terrorist activity or not, are subject to surveillance on their Internet usage by the federal government. (297) According to Johnson, “the person spied on does not have to be the target of the investigation, and the government is not obligated to report to the court or tell the person involved what it has done.” (297) In essence, The Patriot Act is a direct violation of our privacy disguised as a policy whose purpose is to promote homeland security.
So what exactly is “crime and criminality”? According to Elaine Cassel’s The War On Civil Liberties, she offers various examples of what is now considered “terrorism”. One example, for instance, is that of a “lovesick twenty-year-old woman” who was “charged with planting threatening notes” on a cruise ship “in order to make the ship return her to port so she could see her boyfriend. She was sentenced to two years in federal prison for violating a provision of the Patriot Act that makes it a crime of terror to make a threat against a mass transportation system.” (149)
When considering the situation, can one really designate this as an act of terror? It is considered a crime, yes, but one of terror? Does this hold the same magnitude as the attacks on 9/11, or better yet, the genocides, which occurred in places like Cambodia and Bosnia in the not so distant past? Does it have the same effect on people as the latter examples? If one were to answer “yes”, would it be on the premise of fear that is caused as a result? If so, would this not constitute the Patriot Act itself as an act terror, one wherein the privacy of an individual is essentially violated? These questions are posed to make a point while leaving the reader with food for thought.
Works Cited
Cassel, Elaine. The War On Civil Liberties: How Bush And Ashcroft Have Dismantled
The Bill Of Rights. Chicago: Lawrence Hill, 2004.
Johnson, Chalmers. The Sorrows Of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, And The End Of The
Republic. New York: Henry Holt, 2004.
Morris, Rosalind C. “Theses On The Question Of War: History, Media, Terror.” Social
Text 72, Vol. 20, No. 3, Duke, Fall 2002
Societal Sense Of Security
Upon having read Mbembe’s Necropolitics and Galeano’s Upside Down, and after having been involved in a discussion in blackboard regarding appropriate forms of punishment to crime, I have decided to probe into the origins of the correctional system and its relation to society. Mbembe’s worked prompted my interest in this issue. He writes, “In France, the advent of the guillotine [marked] a new phase in the ‘democratization’ of the means of disposing of the enemies of the state.” (Mbembe 19) This concept of beheading and why it was considered the “democratization”, and justifiable means of ridding the state of “enemies”, is very appalling, especially when one considers the psyche of civilization and their tolerance to such cruel punishment. Galeano argues that we live in “a world that prefers security to justice,” which is why “every time a criminal falls in a hail of bullets, society feels some relief from the disease that makes it tremble.” (Galeano 77) In Necropolitics, Mbembe discusses society’s need to get rid of the “other,” what we consider a threat. Based on Galeano’s statement, the “others” are not necessarily limited to foreigners, or non-whites; the other can also be associated with criminals. The eradication of the “other” is what gives society a sense of security. It is my objective to find out why. In doing so, I will research two texts, both by a very well known philosopher, Michel Foucault. The texts I will base my research on will be Foucault’s Discipline & Punish, and Madness and Civilizaion.
Works Cited
Foucault, Michel. Discipline & Punish: The Birth Of The Prison. Trans. Alan Sheridan.
New York: Vintage, 1995.
---. Madness And Civilization: A History Of Insanity In The Age Of Reason. Trans.
Richard Howard. New York: Vintage, 1988.
Mbembe, Achille. Necropolitics. Trans. Libby Meintjes. North Carolina: Duke, 2003.
Galeano, Eduardo. Upside Down. Trans. Mark Fried. New York: Picador, 2000.
The Female Iraqi Perspective
The issue of dehumanizing the “other” was touched upon in Judith Butler’s book, Precarious Life. One of the groups of people she focused on were the women of Iraq, the issues of whom, and whose lifestyles I know very little about. I would like to research two books from which I intend to acquire a female Iraqi perspective, pre- and post-war, on the lives of the people of Bagdad. The works include Alia Mamdouh’s novel, Naphtalene, and Riverbend’s blog collection, Baghdad Burning.
Works Cited
Butler, Judith. Precarious Life: The Powers Of Mourning and Violence. New York: Verso, 2004.
Mamdouh, Alia. Naphtalene: A Novel Of Bagdad. New York: Feminist Press, 2006.
Riverbend. Baghdad Burning: Girl Blog From Iraq. New York: Feminist Press, 2005.
Upon having read this week’s reading assignments, I would like to further investigate the issues of Native American Women. Additionally, I would also like to acquire a further understanding of the practice of female circumcision/mutilation. For purposes of this investigation, I will refer to Devon Mihesuah’s article, Commonalty of Difference: American Indian Women And History and Stanlie James’ article, Shades of Othering: Reflections on Female Circumcision/Genital Mutilation.
Works Cited:
James, Stanelie M. “Shades of Othering: Reflections on Female Circumcision/Genital Mutilation.” SIGNS Vol. 23, No. 4 (Summer, 1998): pp. 1031-1048. 12 Mar. 2006 http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0097-9740%28199822%2923%3A4%3C1031%3ASOOROF%3E2.0.CO%3B2-1.
Mihesuah, Devon A. “Commonalty of Difference: American Indian Women and History.” American Indian Quaterly Vol. 20, No. 1, Special Issue: Writing about (Writing about) American Indians (Winter, 1996): pp. 15-27. 12 Mar. 2006 http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0095-182X%28199624%2920%3A1%3C15%3ACODAIW%3E2.0.CO%3B2-4.
For this research entry, I would like to further investigate environmental issues as they pertain to the Native American population. I will also explore matters regarding current issues about the disposal of hazardous waste. I will be referring to two scholarly articles: The first article is by David Rich Lewis, and is titled, Native Americans and the Environments. The second article is titled Hazardous Waste, written by Travis Wagner.
Lewis, David Rich. “Native Americans and the Environment: A Survey of Twentieth-Century Issues.” American Indian Quarterly Vol. 19, No. 3 (Summer, 1995): pp. 423-450. 20 March 2006. http://www.jstor.org.
Wagner, Travis. “Hazardous Waste: Evolution of a National Environmental Problem.” The Journal Of Policy History Vol. 16, No. 4 (2004): pp. 306-331. 20 March 2006. http://muse.jhu.edu.
Comparison of The Antebellum North and South
Octavia Butler’s science-fiction novel, Kindred, gave the reader a great depiction of the old antebellum South. However, it only briefly touched upon the antebellum North. I would like to further investigate the differences between the antebellum South and antebellum North. I am interested in finding out how the extent of freedom in the North was when compared to the South. I will be using the following two scholarly articles, “How Different from Each Other Were the Antebellum North and South,” and “Antebellum North and South in Comparative Perspective: A Discussion.”
Works Cited
Butler, Octavia E. Kindred. Boston, MA: Beacon, 2004.
Alexander, Thomas B., Stanley L. Engerman, Forrest McDonald, Grady McWhiney, and Edward Pessen. “Antebellum North and South in Comparative Perspective: A Discussion.” The American Historical Review Vol. 85, No. 5 (Dec., 1980): pp. 1150-1166. 02 April 2006. http://www.jstor.org.
Pessen, Edward. “How Different from Each Other Were the Antebellum North and South.” The American Historical Review Vol. 85, No. 5 (Dec., 1980): pp. 1119-1149. 02 April 2006. http://www.jstor.org.
The Politics Of Global Warming
After having read this week’s assignments, I have been left with many questions regarding global warming and its relation to politics. I would like to further investigate not only the environmental causes of global warming, but the role that politics play in creating the kind of environmental conditions that threaten humanity. I will be referring to Mark Lynas’ book, High Tides, and Joshua Karliner’s book, The Corporate Planet: Ecology and Politics in the Age of Globalization.
Works Cited
Karliner, Joshua. The Corporate Planet: Ecology and Politics in the Age of Globalization. California: Sierra Club Books, 1997.
Lynas, Mark. High Tide. New York: Picador, 2004.
Based on this week’s readings, I would like to investigate the overwhelming power that President George W. Bush has been endowed with as a result of the attacks on 9/11. Additionally, I want to research the negative effects that such power has on women in the American society. I will be using the article from the book, The W Effect: Bushes War On Women, in conjunction with Saskia Sassen’s article, “Beyond Flawed Elections: Toward A Privatized Presidency” to make my argument.
Works Cited
Ed. Laura Flanders. The W Effect: Bushes War On Women. New York, NY: The Feminist Press, 2004.
Sassen, Saskia. “Beyond Flawed Elections: Toward a Privatized Presidency.” Theory And Event. Vol. 8, No. 2 (2005). 01 May 2005. http://muse.jhu.edu.
When we consider the law, events, and outcome that developed as a result of 9/11, we take a more victimized perspective. I would like to investigate not only how these developments are viewed through the eyes of a foreigner, but also through the eyes of a domestic professional in academia, and the limitations set forth by these events. I will be using Christopher Flood’s article, “Some European Thoughts in the Wake of 9/11” as well Carroll Seron’s article, “The Teacher-Scholar” for this research.
Works Cited
Flood, Christopher. “Some European Thoughts in the Wake of 9/11.” South Central Review, Vol. 19, No. 2/3, 9/11 (Summer – Autumn, 2002): pp. 50-63. 30 Apr. 2006. http://www.jstor.org.
Seron, Carroll. “ The Teacher-Scholar.” Law & Society Review, Vol.36, No.1 (2002): pp. 21-28. 30 Apr. 2006. http://www.jstor.org.
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