Date: Sun, 16 Sep 2001 23:38:12 -0400 From: aalessan <aalessan-AT-kent.edu> Subject: RE: national subjects/poco epistemologies Danny wrote in his post: > >My fear, and the fear of most others outside the U.S., centers on what will >happen now. The correlation of Bush's frightening promises of aggression and >his escalating approval rating make me shudder. > I value the points raised by Danny in his post and hope that they continue to be discussed on this list in all their complexity. I just wanted to add, in response to this particular fear, that I believe that the widely publicized statistics that claim overwhelming support for a "war on terrorism" among Americans are, if not totally false, at least totally misleading. The same thing happened in the lead-up to the Gulf War--we were told that overwhelming numbers of Americans supported the action, when in fact there was widespread doubt and ambivalence about it. I say this in no way to defend the American reaction, or even to suggest that there aren't certainly large numbers of Americans who on some visceral level want to go to war with someone (though who that someone is remains unclear even to Bush and those around him), but simply to point out that this has everything to do with the attempt to manufacture consent in advance for the sorts of military actions that Danny and many others of us on this list fear. In other words, if 91% of my "neighbors" are so prepared to go to war, who am I to have doubts?--that's the groundwork that's being laid. The work of those of us who want to hold on to any hope of heading off the horrible violence of a military retaliation lies in making it clear that there is space for alternate reponses. The American left didn't do well at making such alternatives heard in the weeks before the horrific attack on Iraq; there may be a chance, in the small time we have left, to begin to voice our opposition to military action before it begins. I hope that the day of action that has been called on September 20 will help to do just this, and I hope that members of the list who hear of other such events and opportunities will make them known. Those of us who teach postcolonial studies in the US, as Danny suggests, also have our work cut out for us--especially the work of defending those who will be the first potential victims of the jingoistic reaction. I don't ordinarily use this phrase, but I feel the need to sign this post in this manner, in the fullest sense of the words: In solidarity Anthony C. Alessandrini Assistant Professor of English Kent State University Kent, OH 44242 (330) 672-1725 aalessan-AT-kent.edu --- from list postcolonial-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---
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