Jon Elster
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199276998
- eISBN:
- 9780191707735
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199276998.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This chapter examines why people kill themselves for other reasons than that they do not want to live, focusing on the special case of why they engage in suicide bombings or (as on 11 September 2001) ...
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This chapter examines why people kill themselves for other reasons than that they do not want to live, focusing on the special case of why they engage in suicide bombings or (as on 11 September 2001) other modes of suicide missions (SMs). It makes a distinction between two levels of actors. At the first level are those who sacrifice their lives (the suicide attackers). At the second level are those who incite and enable them to do so (the organizers). It draws heavily on the cases of suicide attacks mentioned in the other chapters in this volume as well as on some other sources.Less
This chapter examines why people kill themselves for other reasons than that they do not want to live, focusing on the special case of why they engage in suicide bombings or (as on 11 September 2001) other modes of suicide missions (SMs). It makes a distinction between two levels of actors. At the first level are those who sacrifice their lives (the suicide attackers). At the second level are those who incite and enable them to do so (the organizers). It draws heavily on the cases of suicide attacks mentioned in the other chapters in this volume as well as on some other sources.
Frederick Quinn
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195325638
- eISBN:
- 9780199869336
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195325638.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
This chapter presents a summary of the discussions in the preceding chapters. The image of Islam in the West from the Middle Ages to the present contains four enduring elements: religiously, Muhammad ...
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This chapter presents a summary of the discussions in the preceding chapters. The image of Islam in the West from the Middle Ages to the present contains four enduring elements: religiously, Muhammad was seen as either the Antichrist or a fallen Lucifer-like figure; personally, he was a flawed human being, unable or unwilling to contain his sexuality; politically, he was either a major leader who united the desert tribes or a greedy despot; he was viewed as an original source of wisdom of the East for some and the last and greatest prophet of divine revelation for others. In recent times, two aspects — violence and reciprocity — have come to characterize the dominant image of Islam in the West: violence in the widespread prevalence of targeted killings, riots, bombings, and warfare that have devastated parts of the world; reciprocity in that Islam is no longer the passive tableau on which Westerners fashion an image. The Western image of Islam has become the subject of constant modification based on sustained, complex, almost instantaneous global contact.Less
This chapter presents a summary of the discussions in the preceding chapters. The image of Islam in the West from the Middle Ages to the present contains four enduring elements: religiously, Muhammad was seen as either the Antichrist or a fallen Lucifer-like figure; personally, he was a flawed human being, unable or unwilling to contain his sexuality; politically, he was either a major leader who united the desert tribes or a greedy despot; he was viewed as an original source of wisdom of the East for some and the last and greatest prophet of divine revelation for others. In recent times, two aspects — violence and reciprocity — have come to characterize the dominant image of Islam in the West: violence in the widespread prevalence of targeted killings, riots, bombings, and warfare that have devastated parts of the world; reciprocity in that Islam is no longer the passive tableau on which Westerners fashion an image. The Western image of Islam has become the subject of constant modification based on sustained, complex, almost instantaneous global contact.
Nahid A Kabir
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748641338
- eISBN:
- 9780748653232
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748641338.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Middle Eastern Studies
In Britain's highly politicised social climate in the aftermath of the 7/7 London bombings, this book provides an in-depth understanding of British Muslim identity through social constructs — ...
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In Britain's highly politicised social climate in the aftermath of the 7/7 London bombings, this book provides an in-depth understanding of British Muslim identity through social constructs — migration history, family settlement, socio-economic status, religion and culture, and the wider societal environment. Extensive research on young Muslims' identity in Australia and the UK has been carried out. Ethnographic fieldwork in the form of in-depth, semi-structured interviews of over 200 young Muslims in five British cities — London, Leicester, Bradford, Leeds and Cardiff has been undertaken. The careful analysis of interview responses offers insights into the hopes and aspirations of British Muslims from remarkably diverse ethnicities — Algerian, Bangladeshi, Egyptian, Indian, Iranian, Iraqi, Kenyan, Lebanese, Libyan, Malawi, Mauritian, Moroccan, Nigerian, Pakistani, Palestinian, Singaporean, Somali, Sudanese, Syrian, Ugandan, Yemeni, and English, Danish and Scottish converts. By emphasising the importance of biculturalism, the book conveys a realistic and hopeful vision for their successful integration into British society.Less
In Britain's highly politicised social climate in the aftermath of the 7/7 London bombings, this book provides an in-depth understanding of British Muslim identity through social constructs — migration history, family settlement, socio-economic status, religion and culture, and the wider societal environment. Extensive research on young Muslims' identity in Australia and the UK has been carried out. Ethnographic fieldwork in the form of in-depth, semi-structured interviews of over 200 young Muslims in five British cities — London, Leicester, Bradford, Leeds and Cardiff has been undertaken. The careful analysis of interview responses offers insights into the hopes and aspirations of British Muslims from remarkably diverse ethnicities — Algerian, Bangladeshi, Egyptian, Indian, Iranian, Iraqi, Kenyan, Lebanese, Libyan, Malawi, Mauritian, Moroccan, Nigerian, Pakistani, Palestinian, Singaporean, Somali, Sudanese, Syrian, Ugandan, Yemeni, and English, Danish and Scottish converts. By emphasising the importance of biculturalism, the book conveys a realistic and hopeful vision for their successful integration into British society.
Jenny Edkins
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801450297
- eISBN:
- 9780801462795
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801450297.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
Stories of missing persons offer profound insights into the tension between how political systems see us and how we see each other. The search for people who go missing as a result of war, political ...
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Stories of missing persons offer profound insights into the tension between how political systems see us and how we see each other. The search for people who go missing as a result of war, political violence, genocide, or natural disaster reveals how forms of governance that objectify the person are challenged. Contemporary political systems treat persons instrumentally, as objects to be administered rather than as singular beings: the apparatus of government recognizes categories, not people. In contrast, relatives of the missing demand that authorities focus on a particular person: families and friends are looking for someone who to them is unique and irreplaceable. This book highlights stories from a range of circumstances that shed light on this critical tension: the aftermath of World War II, when millions in Europe were displaced; the period following the fall of the World Trade Center towers in Manhattan in 2001 and the London bombings of July 2005; searches for military personnel missing in action; the thousands of political “disappearances” in Latin America; and in more quotidian circumstances where people walk out on their families and disappear of their own volition. When someone goes missing we often find that we didn't know them as well as we thought: there is a sense in which we are “missing” even to our nearest and dearest and even when we are present, not absent. This book investigates what this more profound “missingness” might mean in political terms.Less
Stories of missing persons offer profound insights into the tension between how political systems see us and how we see each other. The search for people who go missing as a result of war, political violence, genocide, or natural disaster reveals how forms of governance that objectify the person are challenged. Contemporary political systems treat persons instrumentally, as objects to be administered rather than as singular beings: the apparatus of government recognizes categories, not people. In contrast, relatives of the missing demand that authorities focus on a particular person: families and friends are looking for someone who to them is unique and irreplaceable. This book highlights stories from a range of circumstances that shed light on this critical tension: the aftermath of World War II, when millions in Europe were displaced; the period following the fall of the World Trade Center towers in Manhattan in 2001 and the London bombings of July 2005; searches for military personnel missing in action; the thousands of political “disappearances” in Latin America; and in more quotidian circumstances where people walk out on their families and disappear of their own volition. When someone goes missing we often find that we didn't know them as well as we thought: there is a sense in which we are “missing” even to our nearest and dearest and even when we are present, not absent. This book investigates what this more profound “missingness” might mean in political terms.
Peter Hopkins and Richard Gale (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748625871
- eISBN:
- 9780748671335
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748625871.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
Following the events of 11th September 2001 in the USA, and more especially, the bombings on the London underground on 7th July 2005 and the incident at Glasgow Airport on 30th June 2007, an ...
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Following the events of 11th September 2001 in the USA, and more especially, the bombings on the London underground on 7th July 2005 and the incident at Glasgow Airport on 30th June 2007, an increasing amount of public attention has been focused upon Muslims in Britain. Against the backdrop of this debate, this book sets out a series of insights into the everyday lives of Muslims living in contemporary Britain, in an attempt to move beyond prevalent stereotypes concerning what it means to be ‘Muslim’. Combining original empirical research with theoretical interventions, this collection offers a range of reflections on how Muslims in Britain negotiate their everyday lives, manage experiences of racism and exclusion, and develop local networks and global connections. The chapters explore a broad range of themes including gender relations; educational and economic issues; migration and mobility; religion and politics; racism and Islamophobia; and the construction and contestation of Muslim identities. Threaded through the treatment of these themes is a unifying concern with the ways in which geography matters to how Muslims negotiate their daily experiences as well as their racialised, gendered and religious identities. Above all, attention is focused upon the role of the home and local community, the influence of the economy and the nation, and the power of transnational connections and mobilities in the everyday lives of Muslims in Britain.Less
Following the events of 11th September 2001 in the USA, and more especially, the bombings on the London underground on 7th July 2005 and the incident at Glasgow Airport on 30th June 2007, an increasing amount of public attention has been focused upon Muslims in Britain. Against the backdrop of this debate, this book sets out a series of insights into the everyday lives of Muslims living in contemporary Britain, in an attempt to move beyond prevalent stereotypes concerning what it means to be ‘Muslim’. Combining original empirical research with theoretical interventions, this collection offers a range of reflections on how Muslims in Britain negotiate their everyday lives, manage experiences of racism and exclusion, and develop local networks and global connections. The chapters explore a broad range of themes including gender relations; educational and economic issues; migration and mobility; religion and politics; racism and Islamophobia; and the construction and contestation of Muslim identities. Threaded through the treatment of these themes is a unifying concern with the ways in which geography matters to how Muslims negotiate their daily experiences as well as their racialised, gendered and religious identities. Above all, attention is focused upon the role of the home and local community, the influence of the economy and the nation, and the power of transnational connections and mobilities in the everyday lives of Muslims in Britain.
Margaret Pabst Battin
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195140279
- eISBN:
- 9780199850280
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195140279.003.0008
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
Imagine a collection of texts on the ethics of suicide — all the primary texts that are of philosophical interest, from all of Western and non-Western culture, from all the major religious ...
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Imagine a collection of texts on the ethics of suicide — all the primary texts that are of philosophical interest, from all of Western and non-Western culture, from all the major religious traditions, including reports from oral cultures where original texts are not available. A spectrum of views about the ethics of suicide — from the view that suicide is profoundly morally wrong to the view that it is a matter of basic human right, and from the view that it is primarily a private matter to the view that it is largely a social one — lies at the root of contemporary practical controversies over suicide. These practical controversies include at least three specific matters of high current saliency: physician-assisted suicide in terminal illness, hunger strikes and suicides of social protest, and suicide bombings and related forms of self-destruction employed as military, guerilla, or terrorist tactics in ongoing political friction. This chapter looks at various texts that are deemed primary sources on the ethics of suicide.Less
Imagine a collection of texts on the ethics of suicide — all the primary texts that are of philosophical interest, from all of Western and non-Western culture, from all the major religious traditions, including reports from oral cultures where original texts are not available. A spectrum of views about the ethics of suicide — from the view that suicide is profoundly morally wrong to the view that it is a matter of basic human right, and from the view that it is primarily a private matter to the view that it is largely a social one — lies at the root of contemporary practical controversies over suicide. These practical controversies include at least three specific matters of high current saliency: physician-assisted suicide in terminal illness, hunger strikes and suicides of social protest, and suicide bombings and related forms of self-destruction employed as military, guerilla, or terrorist tactics in ongoing political friction. This chapter looks at various texts that are deemed primary sources on the ethics of suicide.
Anne Marie Oliver and Paul F. Steinberg
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195305593
- eISBN:
- 9780199850815
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195305593.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
When the authors first moved Gaza in 1988, Sheikh Ahmad Yasin of the Islamic Resistance Movement, as Hamas, was virtually unknown. By the time they left the area five years later, a series of suicide ...
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When the authors first moved Gaza in 1988, Sheikh Ahmad Yasin of the Islamic Resistance Movement, as Hamas, was virtually unknown. By the time they left the area five years later, a series of suicide bombings had made him famous around the world, and ordinary people in the West Bank and Gaza Strip had begun to express some degree of sympathy with the man and the movement. The first casualty in the authors' circle was Yusuf, a longtime member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Those were heady days on “PIanet X”, a phrase one of Yusuf's brothers had discovered in a BBC English course book and applied to Gaza. Yusuf's conversion was of this order. A year after they left the Strip and moved back to Jerusalem, he suddenly turned serious and foreboding and began to frequent the mosque on a daily basis.Less
When the authors first moved Gaza in 1988, Sheikh Ahmad Yasin of the Islamic Resistance Movement, as Hamas, was virtually unknown. By the time they left the area five years later, a series of suicide bombings had made him famous around the world, and ordinary people in the West Bank and Gaza Strip had begun to express some degree of sympathy with the man and the movement. The first casualty in the authors' circle was Yusuf, a longtime member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Those were heady days on “PIanet X”, a phrase one of Yusuf's brothers had discovered in a BBC English course book and applied to Gaza. Yusuf's conversion was of this order. A year after they left the Strip and moved back to Jerusalem, he suddenly turned serious and foreboding and began to frequent the mosque on a daily basis.
Robert W. Hefner (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824832803
- eISBN:
- 9780824868970
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824832803.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Asian Cultural Anthropology
When students from a Muslim boarding school were convicted for the 2002 terrorist bombings in Bali, Islamic schools in Southeast Asia became the focus of intense international scrutiny. Some analysts ...
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When students from a Muslim boarding school were convicted for the 2002 terrorist bombings in Bali, Islamic schools in Southeast Asia became the focus of intense international scrutiny. Some analysts have warned that these schools are being turned into platforms for violent jihadism. This book looks comparatively at Islamic education and politics in Southeast Asia. Based on a two-year research project by leading scholars of Southeast Asian Islam, the book examines Islamic schooling in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, and the southern Philippines. The studies demonstrate that the great majority of schools have nothing to do with violence but are undergoing changes that have far-reaching implications for democracy, gender relations, pluralism, and citizenship. The book offers an important reassessment of Muslim culture and politics in Southeast Asia and provides insights into the changing nature of state–society relations from the late colonial period to the present. It allows us to better appreciate the astonishing dynamism of Islamization in Southeast Asia and the struggle for Muslim hearts and minds taking place today.Less
When students from a Muslim boarding school were convicted for the 2002 terrorist bombings in Bali, Islamic schools in Southeast Asia became the focus of intense international scrutiny. Some analysts have warned that these schools are being turned into platforms for violent jihadism. This book looks comparatively at Islamic education and politics in Southeast Asia. Based on a two-year research project by leading scholars of Southeast Asian Islam, the book examines Islamic schooling in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, and the southern Philippines. The studies demonstrate that the great majority of schools have nothing to do with violence but are undergoing changes that have far-reaching implications for democracy, gender relations, pluralism, and citizenship. The book offers an important reassessment of Muslim culture and politics in Southeast Asia and provides insights into the changing nature of state–society relations from the late colonial period to the present. It allows us to better appreciate the astonishing dynamism of Islamization in Southeast Asia and the struggle for Muslim hearts and minds taking place today.
Mu Yang
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231169967
- eISBN:
- 9780231538527
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231169967.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
Hualien, on the Pacific coast of eastern Taiwan, and its mountains, especially Mount Qilai, were deeply inspirational for the young poet who is the author of this book. A place of immense natural ...
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Hualien, on the Pacific coast of eastern Taiwan, and its mountains, especially Mount Qilai, were deeply inspirational for the young poet who is the author of this book. A place of immense natural beauty and cultural heterogeneity, the city was also a site of extensive social, political, and cultural change in the twentieth century, from the Japanese occupation and the American bombings of World War II to the Chinese Civil War, the White Terror, and the Cold War. Taken as a whole, these evocative and allusive autobiographical essays provide a personal response to history as Taiwan transitioned from a Japanese colony to the Republic of China. The author recounts his childhood experiences under the Japanese, life in the mountains in proximity to indigenous people as his family took refuge from the American bombings, his initial encounters and cultural conflicts with Nationalist soldiers recently arrived from mainland China, the subsequent activities of the Nationalist government to consolidate power, and the island's burgeoning new manufacturing society. Nevertheless, throughout those early years, the author remained anchored by a sense of place on Taiwan's eastern coast and amid its coastal mountains, over which stands Mount Qilai like a guardian spirit. This was the formative milieu of the young poet. He seized on verse to develop a distinct persona and draw meaning from the currents of change reshuffling his world. The book creates an exciting, subjective realm meant to transcend the personal and historical limitations of the individual and the end of culture, “plundered and polluted by politics and industry long ago.”Less
Hualien, on the Pacific coast of eastern Taiwan, and its mountains, especially Mount Qilai, were deeply inspirational for the young poet who is the author of this book. A place of immense natural beauty and cultural heterogeneity, the city was also a site of extensive social, political, and cultural change in the twentieth century, from the Japanese occupation and the American bombings of World War II to the Chinese Civil War, the White Terror, and the Cold War. Taken as a whole, these evocative and allusive autobiographical essays provide a personal response to history as Taiwan transitioned from a Japanese colony to the Republic of China. The author recounts his childhood experiences under the Japanese, life in the mountains in proximity to indigenous people as his family took refuge from the American bombings, his initial encounters and cultural conflicts with Nationalist soldiers recently arrived from mainland China, the subsequent activities of the Nationalist government to consolidate power, and the island's burgeoning new manufacturing society. Nevertheless, throughout those early years, the author remained anchored by a sense of place on Taiwan's eastern coast and amid its coastal mountains, over which stands Mount Qilai like a guardian spirit. This was the formative milieu of the young poet. He seized on verse to develop a distinct persona and draw meaning from the currents of change reshuffling his world. The book creates an exciting, subjective realm meant to transcend the personal and historical limitations of the individual and the end of culture, “plundered and polluted by politics and industry long ago.”
Christian Goeschel
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199532568
- eISBN:
- 9780191701030
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199532568.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History, Social History
World War II began on September 1, 1939, when Nazi Germany invaded Poland in a bloody campaign. The suicide rate closely mirrored Germany's fortunes in the war. When Germany's military fortunes ...
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World War II began on September 1, 1939, when Nazi Germany invaded Poland in a bloody campaign. The suicide rate closely mirrored Germany's fortunes in the war. When Germany's military fortunes turned in 1942, and Germans were increasingly subject to Allied bombings, more people committed suicide. The increasing difficulty of everyday life in this situation clearly played a role. In a sense, economic hardship was coming back into play. People were bombed out, their family and friends killed, their menfolk dead, missing, or captured in increasing numbers. Rations became tighter and food more difficult to obtain. But this was not all. The policies of the Nazi regime also played a role. This chapter tells the familiar story of the Third Reich at war from a different, individual perspective. Powerful, individual cases of suicide emphasize the significant role of legal terror, implemented largely by the Gestapo, in keeping the German population at bay.Less
World War II began on September 1, 1939, when Nazi Germany invaded Poland in a bloody campaign. The suicide rate closely mirrored Germany's fortunes in the war. When Germany's military fortunes turned in 1942, and Germans were increasingly subject to Allied bombings, more people committed suicide. The increasing difficulty of everyday life in this situation clearly played a role. In a sense, economic hardship was coming back into play. People were bombed out, their family and friends killed, their menfolk dead, missing, or captured in increasing numbers. Rations became tighter and food more difficult to obtain. But this was not all. The policies of the Nazi regime also played a role. This chapter tells the familiar story of the Third Reich at war from a different, individual perspective. Powerful, individual cases of suicide emphasize the significant role of legal terror, implemented largely by the Gestapo, in keeping the German population at bay.
Christian Goeschel
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199532568
- eISBN:
- 9780191701030
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199532568.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History, Social History
In the spring of 1945, the Third Reich met its end in a massive wave of suicides. The war's final period from July 1944 until May 1945 was by far the most lethal and violent one for Germans. Debates ...
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In the spring of 1945, the Third Reich met its end in a massive wave of suicides. The war's final period from July 1944 until May 1945 was by far the most lethal and violent one for Germans. Debates on public memory focus on other acts of violence that Germans experienced towards the end of World War II, such as rape, mass Allied bombings, and expulsion from the East, not to mention the massively destructive and aggressive policies of the Nazis. The suicides which occurred in Germany before the Nazi regime's downfall had in common a general feeling of insecurity and the lack of a future perspective. Nazism was cited as a directionless revolution of nihilism that would end in 1945 in self-destruction and total chaos. Even top Nazis, led by Adolf Hitler, Joseph Goebbels, and Heinrich Himmler committed suicide. The suicide wave in Nazi Germany sheds light on the collective emotions of fear and anxiety towards the end of the war.Less
In the spring of 1945, the Third Reich met its end in a massive wave of suicides. The war's final period from July 1944 until May 1945 was by far the most lethal and violent one for Germans. Debates on public memory focus on other acts of violence that Germans experienced towards the end of World War II, such as rape, mass Allied bombings, and expulsion from the East, not to mention the massively destructive and aggressive policies of the Nazis. The suicides which occurred in Germany before the Nazi regime's downfall had in common a general feeling of insecurity and the lack of a future perspective. Nazism was cited as a directionless revolution of nihilism that would end in 1945 in self-destruction and total chaos. Even top Nazis, led by Adolf Hitler, Joseph Goebbels, and Heinrich Himmler committed suicide. The suicide wave in Nazi Germany sheds light on the collective emotions of fear and anxiety towards the end of the war.
Christian Goeschel
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199532568
- eISBN:
- 9780191701030
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199532568.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History, Social History
After the Nazi regime's collapse in 1945, Germans continued to commit suicide, but not in such high numbers as in the Third Reich. The low suicide rates (if compared to the socially and politically ...
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After the Nazi regime's collapse in 1945, Germans continued to commit suicide, but not in such high numbers as in the Third Reich. The low suicide rates (if compared to the socially and politically turbulent Weimar and Nazi years) mirrored the relative political stability and the slow beginning of the economic miracle in the new West German democracy. The Third Reich created a condition of anomie, a context in which many people thought that life was insupportable and therefore killed themselves. This book suggests a new history of Nazi Germany, one that combines traditional social history with cultural history, concerned with individual fates and circumstances. A notable observation is that suicides explicitly linked their own difficulties to wider social pressures. Social dislocation and economic deprivation prompted many people to commit suicide. Nazi politics had a direct impact on many suicides. German Jews committed suicide in their thousands during the Third Reich, more so after the outbreak of World War II. Allied bombings also contributed to suicide.Less
After the Nazi regime's collapse in 1945, Germans continued to commit suicide, but not in such high numbers as in the Third Reich. The low suicide rates (if compared to the socially and politically turbulent Weimar and Nazi years) mirrored the relative political stability and the slow beginning of the economic miracle in the new West German democracy. The Third Reich created a condition of anomie, a context in which many people thought that life was insupportable and therefore killed themselves. This book suggests a new history of Nazi Germany, one that combines traditional social history with cultural history, concerned with individual fates and circumstances. A notable observation is that suicides explicitly linked their own difficulties to wider social pressures. Social dislocation and economic deprivation prompted many people to commit suicide. Nazi politics had a direct impact on many suicides. German Jews committed suicide in their thousands during the Third Reich, more so after the outbreak of World War II. Allied bombings also contributed to suicide.
Stanley Wolpert
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520266773
- eISBN:
- 9780520925755
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520266773.003.0010
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
In December 2003, Prime Minister Atul Bihari Vajpayee met General Pervez Musharraf on the eve of their annual session of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation in Islamabad, agreeing to ...
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In December 2003, Prime Minister Atul Bihari Vajpayee met General Pervez Musharraf on the eve of their annual session of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation in Islamabad, agreeing to a ceasefire along the Line of Control in Kashmir. This important agreement launched the composite peace process for South Asia, designed to put an end to all major conflicts between India and Pakistan. Several positive measures have since been agreed upon, the most symbolically encouraging of which is the Peace Bus that started to travel between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad in 2005, filled with happy Kashmiris, many of whom had not seen their closest relatives for half a century. However, the peace process was derailed by violence, including suicide bombings launched against India, the assassination of popular leader and Benazir Bhutto's friend Nawab Akbar Bugti, and human rights violations by Pakistan's “security forces.” Baluchistan has become the home of so many Taliban militants, including perhaps one-eyed Afghan Mullah Omar himself, as well as Balochi separatists.Less
In December 2003, Prime Minister Atul Bihari Vajpayee met General Pervez Musharraf on the eve of their annual session of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation in Islamabad, agreeing to a ceasefire along the Line of Control in Kashmir. This important agreement launched the composite peace process for South Asia, designed to put an end to all major conflicts between India and Pakistan. Several positive measures have since been agreed upon, the most symbolically encouraging of which is the Peace Bus that started to travel between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad in 2005, filled with happy Kashmiris, many of whom had not seen their closest relatives for half a century. However, the peace process was derailed by violence, including suicide bombings launched against India, the assassination of popular leader and Benazir Bhutto's friend Nawab Akbar Bugti, and human rights violations by Pakistan's “security forces.” Baluchistan has become the home of so many Taliban militants, including perhaps one-eyed Afghan Mullah Omar himself, as well as Balochi separatists.
Daniel Burton-Rose
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520264281
- eISBN:
- 9780520936485
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520264281.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
“We are cozy cuddly/armed and dangerous/and we will/raze the fucking prisons/to the ground.” In an attempt to deliver on this promise, the George Jackson Brigade launched a violent three-year ...
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“We are cozy cuddly/armed and dangerous/and we will/raze the fucking prisons/to the ground.” In an attempt to deliver on this promise, the George Jackson Brigade launched a violent three-year campaign in the mid–1970s against corporate and state institutions in the Pacific Northwest. This campaign, conceived by a group of blacks and whites, both straight and gay, claimed fourteen bombings, as many bank robberies, and a jailbreak. Drawing on extensive interviews with surviving members of the George Jackson Brigade, this book provides an inside-out perspective on the social movements of the 1970s, revealing the whole era in a new and more complex light. It is also an exploration of the true nature of crime and a meditation on the tension between self-restraint and anger in the process of social change.Less
“We are cozy cuddly/armed and dangerous/and we will/raze the fucking prisons/to the ground.” In an attempt to deliver on this promise, the George Jackson Brigade launched a violent three-year campaign in the mid–1970s against corporate and state institutions in the Pacific Northwest. This campaign, conceived by a group of blacks and whites, both straight and gay, claimed fourteen bombings, as many bank robberies, and a jailbreak. Drawing on extensive interviews with surviving members of the George Jackson Brigade, this book provides an inside-out perspective on the social movements of the 1970s, revealing the whole era in a new and more complex light. It is also an exploration of the true nature of crime and a meditation on the tension between self-restraint and anger in the process of social change.
Nunzio Pernicone and Fraser M. Ottanelli
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780252041877
- eISBN:
- 9780252050565
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5622/illinois/9780252041877.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, Cultural History
Bombings are traditionally associated with anarchism. Through a brief comparative survey, Chapter 3 explains that while this was a lethal weapon of struggle used by anarchists in Spain and France, ...
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Bombings are traditionally associated with anarchism. Through a brief comparative survey, Chapter 3 explains that while this was a lethal weapon of struggle used by anarchists in Spain and France, the same was not the case for the bombings perpetrated by their Italian comrades. Spanish and French anarchists bombed activities and locations that attracted large numbers of people, especially members of the bourgeoisie. In contrast, instead of an abstract class enemy, Italian anarchists (in whatever country they struck) bombed buildings or targeted specific personalities along with tangible symbols of state power and repressive policies. The determination to strike those held responsible for repressive policies led to two attentats: Paolo Lega’s attempt on Prime Minister Francesco Crispi’s life followed by Sante Caserio’s assassination of the president of France, Marie Francois Sadi Carnot.Less
Bombings are traditionally associated with anarchism. Through a brief comparative survey, Chapter 3 explains that while this was a lethal weapon of struggle used by anarchists in Spain and France, the same was not the case for the bombings perpetrated by their Italian comrades. Spanish and French anarchists bombed activities and locations that attracted large numbers of people, especially members of the bourgeoisie. In contrast, instead of an abstract class enemy, Italian anarchists (in whatever country they struck) bombed buildings or targeted specific personalities along with tangible symbols of state power and repressive policies. The determination to strike those held responsible for repressive policies led to two attentats: Paolo Lega’s attempt on Prime Minister Francesco Crispi’s life followed by Sante Caserio’s assassination of the president of France, Marie Francois Sadi Carnot.
Mary Palevsky
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520220553
- eISBN:
- 9780520923652
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520220553.003.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, American and Canadian Cultural Anthropology
This chapter introduces the author's memories of the atomic bomb when she was still a little girl. Her parents, both Chicagoans, fell in love and married while working on the creation of the atomic ...
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This chapter introduces the author's memories of the atomic bomb when she was still a little girl. Her parents, both Chicagoans, fell in love and married while working on the creation of the atomic bomb. They were scientific workers, first at Chicago's Metallurgical Laboratory and later at the bomb-building lab in New Mexico. The author's father, Harry Palevsky, worked on instrumentation at Chicago's Metallurgical Laboratory, where Enrico Fermi and his colleagues had achieved the first man-made, controlled nuclear chain reaction. Harry later recommended Elaine Sammel for Los Alamos. Within three weeks of their wedding, the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the war ended. The chapter explores how the author's journey began in trying to understand the connection of her parents to the development of the atomic bomb.Less
This chapter introduces the author's memories of the atomic bomb when she was still a little girl. Her parents, both Chicagoans, fell in love and married while working on the creation of the atomic bomb. They were scientific workers, first at Chicago's Metallurgical Laboratory and later at the bomb-building lab in New Mexico. The author's father, Harry Palevsky, worked on instrumentation at Chicago's Metallurgical Laboratory, where Enrico Fermi and his colleagues had achieved the first man-made, controlled nuclear chain reaction. Harry later recommended Elaine Sammel for Los Alamos. Within three weeks of their wedding, the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the war ended. The chapter explores how the author's journey began in trying to understand the connection of her parents to the development of the atomic bomb.
Daniel Burton-Rose
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520264281
- eISBN:
- 9780520936485
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520264281.003.0015
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
Edward Allen Mead and Bruce Seidel both found their May 31, 1975, bombing of the Division of Corrections headquarters in Olympia empowering. In the absence of immediate repercussions, Mead and Seidel ...
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Edward Allen Mead and Bruce Seidel both found their May 31, 1975, bombing of the Division of Corrections headquarters in Olympia empowering. In the absence of immediate repercussions, Mead and Seidel continued on their course. The next “mass struggle” that they perceived to be in need of armed support was the American Indian Movement on the Sioux reservations of Pine Ridge and Rosebud in South Dakota. There, a violent and uneven battle was being waged between traditionalists and compradors on land drenched in the blood of over a century of conflict. Mead and Seidel broke into the Federal Bureau of Investigation offices in Tacoma and the Bureau of Indian Affairs offices in Everett on August 5 and 6, respectively. They took turns planting pipe bombs; both devices detonated as planned. This chapter discusses how a furtive effort to launch a guerrilla cell out of an anarchist bookshop ended in disaster and how the George Jackson Brigade became Public Enemy Number One after its two bombings of the Safeway Store in Washington.Less
Edward Allen Mead and Bruce Seidel both found their May 31, 1975, bombing of the Division of Corrections headquarters in Olympia empowering. In the absence of immediate repercussions, Mead and Seidel continued on their course. The next “mass struggle” that they perceived to be in need of armed support was the American Indian Movement on the Sioux reservations of Pine Ridge and Rosebud in South Dakota. There, a violent and uneven battle was being waged between traditionalists and compradors on land drenched in the blood of over a century of conflict. Mead and Seidel broke into the Federal Bureau of Investigation offices in Tacoma and the Bureau of Indian Affairs offices in Everett on August 5 and 6, respectively. They took turns planting pipe bombs; both devices detonated as planned. This chapter discusses how a furtive effort to launch a guerrilla cell out of an anarchist bookshop ended in disaster and how the George Jackson Brigade became Public Enemy Number One after its two bombings of the Safeway Store in Washington.
Daniel Burton-Rose
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520264281
- eISBN:
- 9780520936485
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520264281.003.0017
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
One evening in October 1975, Rita Brown and a companion were sitting in a Pioneer Square bar across from the train station on Jackson Street in Seattle, Washington. Suddenly everything went dark. ...
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One evening in October 1975, Rita Brown and a companion were sitting in a Pioneer Square bar across from the train station on Jackson Street in Seattle, Washington. Suddenly everything went dark. Power to the whole area was out after a fuel truck crashed on the Alaskan Way viaduct, the coastal rim of downtown, and was pouring flaming oil onto a terminal of City Light, the public utility, below. City light workers, who had been on strike since October 17 demanding a retroactive pay raise and the negotiation of a new contract, refused to repair the damage. Their obstinacy prolonged the power outage. The next week, different members of the George Jackson Brigade walked the picket line with the rank and file of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 77, a common way of demonstrating solidarity. This chapter focuses on the bombings carried out by the George Jackson Brigade on New Year's Eve of 1976, one against City Light and two against a Safeway Store.Less
One evening in October 1975, Rita Brown and a companion were sitting in a Pioneer Square bar across from the train station on Jackson Street in Seattle, Washington. Suddenly everything went dark. Power to the whole area was out after a fuel truck crashed on the Alaskan Way viaduct, the coastal rim of downtown, and was pouring flaming oil onto a terminal of City Light, the public utility, below. City light workers, who had been on strike since October 17 demanding a retroactive pay raise and the negotiation of a new contract, refused to repair the damage. Their obstinacy prolonged the power outage. The next week, different members of the George Jackson Brigade walked the picket line with the rank and file of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 77, a common way of demonstrating solidarity. This chapter focuses on the bombings carried out by the George Jackson Brigade on New Year's Eve of 1976, one against City Light and two against a Safeway Store.
Daniel Burton-Rose
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520264281
- eISBN:
- 9780520936485
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520264281.003.0024
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
In returning to Seattle, the George Jackson Brigade chose a residence in South Seattle, near the Seattle-Tacoma airport. The perennial issue of prison struggle cropped up again in the late spring. As ...
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In returning to Seattle, the George Jackson Brigade chose a residence in South Seattle, near the Seattle-Tacoma airport. The perennial issue of prison struggle cropped up again in the late spring. As with the Brigade's first bombing—that in support of prisoners on June 1, 1975—the long-term isolation unit at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla was the flash point. A triumvirate of interests was in conflict: prisoners, caged for indefinite periods in dismal circumstances; prison guards, who despised and feared their charges and complained of a lack of support from their superiors; and policy makers in Olympia, whose dreams of reform became nightmarish realities when implemented. After the Brigade discovered an interlocking directorate joining the Seattle Times to Rainier National Bank, it decided to use actions against the bank's branches as a launching pad for its objections to the circumscribed public debate over prisoners' rights. This chapter discusses the Brigade's return to Seattle with a high-profile string of bombings.Less
In returning to Seattle, the George Jackson Brigade chose a residence in South Seattle, near the Seattle-Tacoma airport. The perennial issue of prison struggle cropped up again in the late spring. As with the Brigade's first bombing—that in support of prisoners on June 1, 1975—the long-term isolation unit at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla was the flash point. A triumvirate of interests was in conflict: prisoners, caged for indefinite periods in dismal circumstances; prison guards, who despised and feared their charges and complained of a lack of support from their superiors; and policy makers in Olympia, whose dreams of reform became nightmarish realities when implemented. After the Brigade discovered an interlocking directorate joining the Seattle Times to Rainier National Bank, it decided to use actions against the bank's branches as a launching pad for its objections to the circumscribed public debate over prisoners' rights. This chapter discusses the Brigade's return to Seattle with a high-profile string of bombings.
Daniel Burton-Rose
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520264281
- eISBN:
- 9780520936485
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520264281.003.0025
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
In the fall, the collective relocated from their working-class digs in southern Seattle to the more middle-class north Seattle. As usual, the banks robbed by the members of the George Jackson Brigade ...
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In the fall, the collective relocated from their working-class digs in southern Seattle to the more middle-class north Seattle. As usual, the banks robbed by the members of the George Jackson Brigade were far away from their home, including the Old National Bank in Juanita and the Skyway Park branch of the People's National Bank. The proceeds from these and other recent bank robberies funded a new campaign, one in support of automotive machinists in Bellevue who had been on strike since May 18. Brigade members walked with picketers at five different automobile dealerships and concluded that the workingmen would be amenable to some old-fashioned American labor violence. The Brigade launched attacks against the Westlund Buick-Opel-GMC, S.L. Savidge Dodge, and the BBC Dodge dealerships. It sent a letter addressed to the Automotive Machinists Union claiming responsibility for the three automobile dealership bombings. While the Brigade took its potshots at the owning class in the United States, a parallel formation in West Germany involving the Red Army Faction was shaking the country to its foundations.Less
In the fall, the collective relocated from their working-class digs in southern Seattle to the more middle-class north Seattle. As usual, the banks robbed by the members of the George Jackson Brigade were far away from their home, including the Old National Bank in Juanita and the Skyway Park branch of the People's National Bank. The proceeds from these and other recent bank robberies funded a new campaign, one in support of automotive machinists in Bellevue who had been on strike since May 18. Brigade members walked with picketers at five different automobile dealerships and concluded that the workingmen would be amenable to some old-fashioned American labor violence. The Brigade launched attacks against the Westlund Buick-Opel-GMC, S.L. Savidge Dodge, and the BBC Dodge dealerships. It sent a letter addressed to the Automotive Machinists Union claiming responsibility for the three automobile dealership bombings. While the Brigade took its potshots at the owning class in the United States, a parallel formation in West Germany involving the Red Army Faction was shaking the country to its foundations.
