DOCSLIB.ORG

Bergit Arends Phd Thesis

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Bergit Arends Phd Thesis Contemporary art, archives and environmental change in the age of the Anthropocene Bergit Arends Royal Holloway, University of London Geography Submitted for the degree of PhD September 2017 1 Declaration of authorship I, Bergit Arends, hereby declare that this thesis and the work presented in it is entirely my own. Where I have consulted the work of others, this is always clearly stated. Signed: ______________________ Date: ________________________ 2 Abstract This thesis considers formulations of environmental change by contemporary visual artists, working primarily in Europe and North America in the period 1970s to the present. These works are situated in the context of both global environmental and artistic discourses of the 1970s and the 1990s and in relation to the present time, which is influenced by the concept of the Anthropocene. Making reference to a broad field of related artistic, curatorial and exhibition practices, the thesis examines in particular three art projects and the complexities of their conceptions, processes and displays within specific places. I describe the content, narrative forms and materiality of the works, paying particular attention to artists’ engagements with the archive in the context of collaborative projects. I pursue answers to two key questions: how do visual artists’ projects engage with contemporary understandings of environment and environment-human relationships? And how does the current debate on environmental change play out in the making and reading of contemporary visual artists’ works? The first section, containing three chapters, provides the theoretical and methodological context and rationale for the thesis. It sets out the analytical framework for the study of the selected artworks, methods and sources. The second section discusses three case studies: Mark Dion’s project A Yard of Jungle, based on the 1915 field work by American scientist William Beebe in Brazil, for the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in 1992; Chrystel Lebas’ ongoing collaborative research into ecologist Edward James Salisbury’s personal photographic archive of British plant habitats from the first half of the twentieth century; and the photographic book by Nguyen the Thuc Kohle unter Magdeborn [Coal underneath Magdeborn] (ca. 1976), documenting the impact of open-cast coal mining on a local community in the German Democratic Republic in the 1970s, which was exhibited in the Leipzig archival exhibition Freundschaftsantiqua [Friendship antiqua] (2014) alongside a commissioned series of photographs of the former mining site by Christiane Eisler. The primary resources for these artists’ projects are the archive and related fieldwork. In this context, the archive encompasses not only documentary materials, but also the geological archives of the Earth and the human body as archive. Fieldwork sites referenced in these projects include a variety of locations within tropical and coastal environments as well as a mining region undergoing regeneration. The thesis examines the agency of the materials these sites hold, how and to what ends they are appropriated in the process of artistic knowledge production. The structural device of montage is presented as a means of connecting heterogeneous materials drawn from different temporal and spatial contexts. Throughout, the thesis raises wider questions by situating artists’ representations of environmental change in the context of debates over the ideas of ecology, environment and the Anthropocene. 3 Table of contents Abstract 3 Table of contents 4 List of figures 6 Acknowledgements 14 1. Introduction 15 1.1. Research methods and case studies 2. Art and environmental change 26 2.1. Framing time, defining spaces 2.2. Art, ecology, environment 2.3. Environmentalisms 2.4. Themes of the Anthropocene 3. Archives: textual, material, embodied, performed 57 3.1. The archive 3.2. Performing the archive 3.3. Re-performing the archive 4. Mark Dion and William Beebe: A Yard of Jungle (1992/1915) and 88 ‘My jungle table’ (1923) 4.1. Introduction 4.2. Performing spaces: Arté Amazonas 4.3. Fieldwork in Pará, Brazil: performance and re-performance 4.4. A jungle table at the Rio Earth Summit: performing environment-as-archive 4.5. Conclusion 5. Chrystel Lebas: re-visiting the Sir Edward James Salisbury 133 archive (ca. 1905–1938) 5.1. Introduction 5.2. Evolving a visual framework 5.3. Seeing the landscape 5.4. ‘This state of travel or wandering’: Culbin Sands (Scotland) 5.5. Conclusion 4 6. Deep archive: Nguyen the Thuc Kohle unter Magdeborn [Coal 172 underneath Magdeborn] (ca. 1976) 6.1. Introduction 6.2. Nguyen the Thuc and Christiane Eisler at Freundschaftsantiqua 6.3. Landscape of the Leipzig region in the German Democratic Republic 6.4. Photography at the Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig in the 1970s 6.5. Conclusion 7. Conclusion 212 Appendix I 223 Large-format reproductions of selected images Appendix II 234 Works of art Appendix III 236 Interviews Bibliography 238 Collections and archives Published sources 5 List of figures Figure 2.1. Earth system trends graphs. Trends from 1750 to 2010 in indicators for the structure and functioning of the Earth System. From ‘The trajectory of the Anthropocene: the Great Acceleration’, by W. Steffen, W. Broadgate, L. Deutsch, O. Gaffney, & C. Ludwig (2015), The Anthropocene Review 2(1), 87. [Screen shot]. Figure 2.2. Mark Dion New Curiosities for the Green Vault. Unicorn Horn (2014) [Replica of a narwhal tooth, metal, paint. 540 x 565 x 180 mm]. Photograph: Simon Vogel. Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Nagel Draxler, Berlin/Cologne. Figure 2.3. The ‘Burning embers’ diagram from IPCC Third Assessment Report with EU stabilisation target superimposed on emission scenarios. From: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Summary for Policy Makers: Climate Change 2001: Impacts, Adaptation & Vulnerability Contribution of Working Group II to the Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Geneva, Switzerland, 2001. From ‘Conventions of climate change: constructions of danger and the dispossession of the atmosphere’, by D. M. Liverman (2009), Journal of Historical Geography, 35(2), 287. [Screen shot]. Figure 2.4. H. J. Schellnhuber & H. Held. Map of global ‘tipping points’ in climate change. From ‘Inventing an Icon’, by M. Kemp (2005), Nature, 437(October), p. 1238. [Screen shot]. Figure 3.1. Mikhail Karikis Children of Unquiet (2014) [Video still]. Courtesy of the artist. Figure 3.2. Mikhail Karikis Children of Unquiet (2014) [Video still]. Courtesy of the artist. Figure 3.3. David Brooks An Archive Within an Archive Within an Archive (2014). Commissioned by the Visual Arts Centre at the University of Texas at Austin. Courtesy of the artist. Figure 3.4. David Brooks An Archive Within an Archive Within an Archive (2014). Commissioned by the Visual Arts Centre at the University of Texas at Austin. Courtesy of the artist. 6 Figure 3.5. David Brooks Repositioned Core (2014) [Rock core, metal scaffolding, modified architecture. Size 28 x 92 x 18 feet]. Commissioned by the Visual Arts Centre at the University of Texas at Austin. Courtesy of the artist. Figure 3.6. Ackroyd & Harvey Conflicted Seeds + Spirit exhibition (2016). David Attenborough Building, Cambridge (UK). Photograph: Bergit Arends (2016). Figure 3.7. Ackroyd & Harvey Seeing Red … Overdrawn (2016) [Detail]. Conflicted Seeds + Spirit exhibition (2016). Photograph: Bergit Arends (2016). Figure 4.1. [Unknown photographer]. (13 June 1992). Photo #122944. Credit: United Nations Photo Library, New York City. Figure 4.2. [Unknown photographer]. (11 June 1992). Photo #281256. Credit: United Nations Photo Library, New York City. Figure 4.3. [Beebe, W.?]. (ca. 1915). Tropical jungle near Pará [Photograph with Caption. Detail Page 1243]. Reproduced in: Beebe, W. (1915) Zoological notes from Pará. Zoological Society Bulletin, XVIII(4). 1241–1243. [Screen shot]. Retrieved from https://ia802708.us.archive.org/0/items/zoologicalsociet191415newy/z oologicalsociet191415newy.pdf. Credit: New York Zoological Society Archive Figure 4.4. Page 1307 [Including photograph [Beebe, W.?]. (ca. 1915). Captioned: Utinga jungle]. Beebe, W. (1916). Exploring a tree and a yard of jungle. Zoological Society Bulletin, XIX(1). New York Zoological Society. 1307– 1316. [Screen shot]. Retrieved from http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/108187. Credit: Biodiversity Library. Figure 4.5. Page 1309 [Including photograph [Beebe, W.?]. (ca. 1915). Captioned: The Cinnamon tree of the birds in the Utinga jungle]. Beebe, W. (1916). Exploring a tree and a yard of jungle. Zoological Society Bulletin, XIX(1). New York Zoological Society. 1307–1316. [Screen shot]. Retrieved from http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/108187. Credit: Biodiversity Library. 7 Figure 4.6. Mark Dion A Meter of Jungle (1992). [2 colour photographs, black overmount, black frame.]. Photograph of the framed photograph: Georg Hofer, Innsbruck, Austria. Courtesy of the artist and Georg Kargl Gallery. Figure 4.7. Entomologist William Overal. Artists into Amazon. Arté Amazonas, (1992). Video by John Arden [Video still photographed from TV monitor (2016)] Photograph: Bergit Arends. Figure 4.8. Mark Dion on fieldwork [On Tropical Nature, 1991?]. Scan from reproduction in the exhibition catalogue Arté Amazonas (1992, p. 45). Figures 4.9.–4.13. Mark Dion A Yard of Jungle (1992) [Installation detail]. Arté Amazonas exhibition (1992). Museu de Arte Moderna, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Photographs: Vicente de Mello.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Northward Course of the Anthropocene
    Eric Paglia in a Time of Environmental Crisis and Telecoupling Transformation, Temporality COURSE OF THE ANTHROPOCENE THE NORTHWARD (Continued from front fl ap) the fi elds of environmental history, crisis THE NORTHWARD COURSE management and security studies, political geography, and science and technology studies (STS). The primary areas of empirical OF THE ANTHROPOCENE analysis and theoretical investigation encompass constructivist perspectives and temporal conceptions of environmental and climate crisis; the role of science and expertise in performing politics and shaping Transformation, Temporality social discourse; the geopolitical signifi cance of telecoupling—a concept that refl ects the and Telecoupling in a Time interconnectedness of the Anthropocene and supports stakeholder claims across wide of Environmental Crisis spatial scales; and implications of the recent transformation in humankind’s long duration relationship with the natural world. Several dissertation themes were observed in practice at the international science community of Ny- Ålesund on Svalbard, where global change is made visible through a concentration of scientifi c activity. Ny-Ålesund is furthermore a place of geopolitics, where extra-regional he Arctic—warming at twice the states attempt to enhance their legitimacy as rate of the rest of the planet—is a Arctic stakeholders through the performance of source of striking imagery of amplifi ed scientifi c research undertakings, participation Tenvironmental change in our time, and has in governance institutions, and by establishing come to serve as a spatial setting for climate a physical presence in the Far North. This crisis discourse. The recent alterations in the dissertation concludes that this small and Arctic environment have also been perceived remote community represents an Anthropocene by some observers as an opportunity to expand node of global environmental change, Earth economic exploitation.
    [Show full text]
  • Curriculum Vitae Nancy J
    +Curriculum Vitae Nancy J. Jacobs Fall 2019 Department of History [email protected] Box N T: 401-863-9342 Brown University F: 401-863-1040 Providence, RI 02912 202 Sharpe House PROFESSIONAL POSITIONS Professor, Department of History, Brown University 2016–present Elected Faculty Fellow, Institute for Environment and Society, Brown University 2014–present Associate Professor, Department of History, Brown University 2003–2016 Associate Professor, Department of Africana Studies, Brown University 2003-2012 Benedict Distinguished Visiting Professor, Department of History, Carleton College Spring 2014 Director of Undergraduate Studies, Department of History, Brown University 2007–2011 Director, International Scholars of the Environment Program, Watson Institute 2008–2009 Assistant Professor, Departments of History and Africana Studies, Brown University 1996–2003 Visiting Assistant Professor, Departments of History, Carleton and St. Olaf Colleges 1995–1996 Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of History, Fort Lewis College 1994–1995 Associate Instructor, Department of History, Indiana University 1992–1993 Intern, Political Section, United States Embassy, Pretoria, South Africa 1986 EDUCATION Ph.D. in History 1995 Indiana University, Bloomington M.A. in African Studies 1987 University of California, Los Angeles B.A. in History and German 1984 Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan PUBLICATIONS Books Birders of Africa: History of a Network. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2016. xvi +350 pp. (South African paperback issued by University of Cape Town Press, 2018.) 1 African History through Sources, volume 1: Colonial Contexts and Everyday Experiences, c. 1850–1946. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014. xv + 328 pp. Environment, Power and Injustice: A South African History. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003. xii +300 pp.
    [Show full text]
  • Afghanistan: a Glimpse of War—Contemporary History at the Canadian War Museum
    Canadian Military History Volume 16 Issue 3 Article 5 2007 Afghanistan: A Glimpse of War—Contemporary History at the Canadian War Museum Andrew Burtch Canadian War Museum, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.wlu.ca/cmh Part of the Military History Commons Recommended Citation Burtch, Andrew "Afghanistan: A Glimpse of War—Contemporary History at the Canadian War Museum." Canadian Military History 16, 3 (2007) This Canadian War Museum is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Canadian Military History by an authorized editor of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Burtch: Afghanistan Afghanistan: A Glimpse of War Contemporary History at the Canadian War Museum Andrew Burtch ow do you exhibit the history on historical themes and issues in its Hof an ongoing conflict, with an permanent galleries, to present new, unknown outcome and with most compelling stories from Canadian documents restricted on the basis of military history, and to develop or operational security? What story can import exhibitions dealing with global you tell? Afghanistan: A Glimpse of themes and special topics of interest War, a special exhibition developed by to a wide audience. and currently on view at the Canadian War Museum (CWM), addresses these It is important for the CWM, as questions by using first-hand accounts the national museum for Canadian from eyewitness records, media reports, military history, to tell Canadians interviews, open source material, and the about the most recent and significant visitors themselves.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction
    chapter � Introduction Ethnicity does not matter in the long-term perspective. Such was the conclu- sion formulated by a new generation of ‘Africanists’ in the 1970s and 1980s, and it was a kind of scientific revolution. Its defenders held that in sub-Saharan Africa, ethnicity had mainly been created through European colonial rule, and was, therefore, an entirely artificial concept.1 For a period that roughly coin- cides with the 15 years between 1975 and 1990, the attack against the well- established idea of primordial ethnic groups in Africa – which had dominated anthropological thought from the colonial period onwards – seemed to win the day.2 In spite of Eric Hobsbawm and Terence Ranger’s initiative to under- stand the ‘invention of tradition’ with a view to identifying the creation of group sentiment in a comparative and global approach, however, reflections of historians working on group identity in the African continent have rarely entered the debates on global history.3 While migration and connection – for example, over the Atlantic or the Indian Ocean – are essential themes in global historical studies, they do not yet interact with the analysis of ethnicity that 1 This is neatly summarised in Amselle, Jean-Loup, ‘Ethnies et espaces: pour une anthropolo- gie topologique’, in Jean-Loup Amselle and Elikia M’Bokolo (eds.), Au cœur de l’ethnie: ethnies, tribalisme et État en Afrique (Paris: La Découverte, 1985), 11–48, 23 (‘La cause paraît donc entendue: il n’existait rien qui ressemblât à une ethnie pendant la période précoloniale’).
    [Show full text]
  • Common Afghans‟, a Useful Construct for Achieving Results in Afghanistan
    International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Vol. 1 No. 6; June2011 „Common Afghans‟, A useful construct for achieving results in Afghanistan Fahim Youssofzai Associate Professor (Strategic Management) Department of Business Administration, RMC/CMR P.O. Box: 17000, Stn. Forces Kingston, Ontario, K7K 7B4, Canada E-mail: [email protected], Phone: (613) 541 6000 Abstract Considering the seemingly perpetual problems in Afghanistan, this paper defines a new construct – the Common Afghans – and argues why it should be considered in strategic reflections and actions related to stability of this country. It tries to show that part of ill-performance in comes from the fact that the contributions of an important stakeholder “the Common Afghans” are ignored in the processes undertaken by international stakeholders in this country since 2002. It argues why considering the notion “Common Afghans” is helpful for achieving concrete results related to different initiatives undertaken in Afghanistan, by different stakeholders. Key words: Afghanistan, Common Afghans, Accurate unit of analysis, Policies, Strategies 1. Introduction Afghanistan looks to be in perpetual turmoil. In a recent desperate reflection, Robert Blackwill, a former official in the Bush administration and former US ambassador to India suggests partition of Afghanistan since the US cannot win war in this county (POLITICO, 2010). On same mood, Jack Wheeler defines Afghanistan as “...a problem, not a real country…”. According to Wheeler, “…the solution to the problem is not a futile effort of “nation-building” – that effort is doomed to fail – it is nation-building‟s opposite: get rid of the problem by getting rid of the country…” (Wheeler, 2010).
    [Show full text]
  • Center for Contemporary History and Policy S T U D I E S I N S
    Studies in Sustainability Center for Assessing Community Advisory Panels: Contemporary A Case Study from Louisiana’s History and Policy Industrial Corridor Chemical Heritage Foundation [Inside Front Cover] Studies in Sustainability Center for Assessing Community Contemporary Advisory Panels: A Case Study History and Policy from Louisiana’s Industrial Corridor Gwen Ottinger Chemical Heritage Foundation ©2008 by the Chemical Heritage Foundation. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form by any means (electronic, mechanical, xerographic, or other) or held in any information storage retrieval systems without written permission from the publisher. Printed in the United States of America For information about the Chemical Heritage Foundation, its Center for Contemporary History and Policy, and its publications contact Chemical Heritage Foundation 315 Chestnut Street Philadelphia, PA 19106-2702, USA 215.925.2222 215.925.1954 (fax) www.chemheritage.org Cover design by Snyder Creative Contents v Acknowledgments 1 Executive Summary 3 Introduction 5 CAP Background 7 Assessing CAP Performance 9 Case Study: CAPs in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana 11 Results in St. Charles Parish 19 Conclusion and Recommendations Acknowledgments The author would like to thank members of the St. Charles, Orion, and Valero CAPs and the Norco–New Sarpy Community-Industry Panel for allowing her to participate in their meetings and for sharing their thoughts about the panels. She is additionally grateful to St. Charles Parish librarians, especially Janet Sincavage, for their assistance in locating minutes of past CAP meetings. Thanks go also to Arthur Daemmrich and Jody Roberts for helpful comments on earlier versions of this paper.
    [Show full text]
  • The Dilemma of NATO Strategy, 1949-1968 a Dissertation Presented
    The Dilemma of NATO Strategy, 1949-1968 A dissertation presented to the faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy Robert Thomas Davis II August 2008 © 2008 Robert Thomas Davis II All Rights Reserved ii This dissertation titled The Dilemma of NATO Strategy, 1949-1968 by ROBERT THOMAS DAVIS II has been approved for the Department of History and the College of Arts and Sciences by ______________________________ Peter John Brobst Associate Professor of History ______________________________ Benjamin M. Ogles Dean, College of Arts and Sciences iii Abstract DAVIS, ROBERT THOMAS II, Ph.D., August 2008, History The Dilemma of NATO Strategy, 1949-1968 (422 pp.) Director of Dissertation: Peter John Brobst This study is a reappraisal of the strategic dilemma of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in the Cold War. This dilemma revolves around the problem of articulating a strategic concept for a military alliance in the nuclear era. NATO was born of a perceived need to defend Western Europe from a Soviet onslaught. It was an imperative of the early alliance to develop a military strategy and force posture to defend Western Europe should such a war break out. It was not long after the first iteration of strategy took shape than the imperative for a military defense of Europe receded under the looming threat of thermonuclear war. The advent of thermonuclear arsenals in both the United States and Soviet Union brought with it the potential destruction of civilization should war break out. This realization made statesmen on both sides of the Iron Curtain undergo what has been referred to as an ongoing process of nuclear learning.
    [Show full text]
  • Le Rendez-Vous Parisien Qui Célèbre L'art Contemporain Latino-Américain
    Le rendez-vous parisien qui célèbre l’art contemporain latino-américain CARRÉ LATIN 2017 - PALAIS ROYAL LE RENDEZ-VOUS PARISIEN QUI CELEBRE L’ART CONTEMPORAIN LATINO-AMERICAIN est de retour. Cette année, le festival se déploie dans le cadre exceptionnel du domaine national du Palais-Royal du 16 au 26 octobre 2017. En parallèle de la FIAC; pendant un moment riche en événements culturels, Carré Latin propose une rencontre entre œuvres contemporaines de qualité et beauté classique de l’emplacement, ce qui produira un choc visuel original chez le spectateur. Une soigneuse sélection d'œuvres qui provient d’une trentaine d'artistes contemporains latino-américains sera exposée dans différentes vitrines des boutiques du Palais Royal, situées dans : la Galerie Montpensier, la Galerie Beaujolais, la Galerie Valois et la Galerie Orléans. LES ARTISTES Pour former la sélection des artistes participants au Carré Latin, nous avons mis en place un procédé de recherche qui nous a principalement mené vers des talents reconnus dans leur pays d’origine ou plus globalement sur leur continent. Par notre événement, nous voulons leur donner une formidable opportunité d’élargir l’horizon de leur marché de collectionneurs. ANTONIO ASIS Buenos Aires, Argentina Antonio Asis est né à Buenos Aires en Argentine en 1932. Il effectue ses études à l’Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts de Buenos Aires dans laquelle le jeune étudiant se démarque en gagnant de nombreux prix. De 1950 à 1960, on voit naître un petit groupe de jeunes artistes latino- américains, qui, comme Asis, décide de s’installer à Paris. Asis est l’un des premiers artistes de ce groupe à être accueilli dans la mythique galerie de Denise René, accompagné notamment par Jesús Rafael Soto, Julio Le Parc, Luis Tomasello Horacio García Rosi, Narciso Debourg, Carlos Cruz-Diez et Darío Pérez Flores.
    [Show full text]
  • NATO in the Beholder's Eye: Soviet Perceptions and Policies, 1949-1956
    WOODROW WILSON INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR SCHOLARS Christian Ostermann, Lee H. Hamilton, NATO in the Beholder’s Eye: Director Director Soviet Perceptions and Policies, 1949-56 BOARD OF ADVISORY TRUSTEES: COMMITTEE: Vojtech Mastny Joseph A. Cari, Jr., William Taubman Chairman (Amherst College) Steven Alan Bennett, Working Paper No. 35 Chairman Vice Chairman PUBLIC MEMBERS Michael Beschloss (Historian, Author) The Secretary of State Colin Powell; The Librarian of James H. Billington Congress (Librarian of Congress) James H. Billington; The Archivist of the United States Warren I. Cohen John W. Carlin; (University of Maryland- The Chairman of the Baltimore) National Endowment for the Humanities Bruce Cole; John Lewis Gaddis The Secretary of the (Yale University) Smithsonian Institution Lawrence M. Small; The Secretary of James Hershberg Education (The George Washington Roderick R. Paige; University) The Secretary of Health & Human Services Tommy G. Thompson; Samuel F. Wells, Jr. (Woodrow Wilson PRIVATE MEMBERS Washington, D.C. Center) Carol Cartwright, John H. Foster, March 2002 Sharon Wolchik Jean L. Hennessey, (The George Washington Daniel L. Lamaute, University) Doris O. Mausui, Thomas R. Reedy, Nancy M. Zirkin COLD WAR INTERNATIONAL HISTORY PROJECT THE COLD WAR INTERNATIONAL HISTORY PROJECT WORKING PAPER SERIES CHRISTIAN F. OSTERMANN, Series Editor This paper is one of a series of Working Papers published by the Cold War International History Project of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. Established in 1991 by a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Cold War International History Project (CWIHP) disseminates new information and perspectives on the history of the Cold War as it emerges from previously inaccessible sources on “the other side” of the post-World War II superpower rivalry.
    [Show full text]
  • A Theory of ISIS
    A Theory of ISIS A Theory of ISIS Political Violence and the Transformation of the Global Order Mohammad-Mahmoud Ould Mohamedou First published 2018 by Pluto Press 345 Archway Road, London N6 5AA www.plutobooks.com Copyright © Mohammad-Mahmoud Ould Mohamedou 2018 The right of Mohammad-Mahmoud Ould Mohamedou to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 0 7453 9911 9 Hardback ISBN 978 0 7453 9909 6 Paperback ISBN 978 1 7868 0169 2 PDF eBook ISBN 978 1 7868 0171 5 Kindle eBook ISBN 978 1 7868 0170 8 EPUB eBook This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental standards of the country of origin. Typeset by Stanford DTP Services, Northampton, England Simultaneously printed in the United Kingdom and United States of America Contents List of Figures vii List of Tables viii List of Abbreviations ix Acknowledgements x Introduction: The Islamic State and Political Violence in the Early Twenty-First Century 1 Misunderstanding IS 6 Genealogies of New Violence 22 Theorising IS 28 1. Al Qaeda’s Matrix 31 Unleashing Transnational Violence 32 Revenge of the ‘Agitated Muslims’ 49 The McDonaldisation of Terrorism 57 2. Apocalypse Iraq 65 Colonialism Redesigned 66 Monstering in American Iraq 74 ‘I will see you in New York’ 83 3.
    [Show full text]
  • Print This Article
    J. S. Asian Stud. 08 (02) 2019. 71-78 DOI: 10.33687/jsas.008.02.3064 Available Online at EScience Press Journal of South Asian Studies ISSN: 2307-4000 (Online), 2308-7846 (Print) https://esciencepress.net/journals/JSAS WAR ON TERROR AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR GLOBAL PEACE AND SECURITY Rifah R. Monir Education, Research, and Publication Unit, Center for Tajuddin Ahmad Research and Activism (CTARA). Bangladesh. *Corresponding Author Email ID: [email protected] A B S T R A C T The study starts with an attempt to outline terrorism conceptually. It then discusses the policy and operational background of the War on Terror. The study progresses with a brief review of the major processes of political decision- making and military atrocities resulting from the war. The main argument of this study suggests that the scale of global terrorism cannot be successfully combated through the sole application of military power that produces more terrorism. The study contributes to the critical academic literature that claims that by overstating the terrorist activities and adopting brutal military strategies, the War on Terror is actually inducing terrorism. As is evidenced, terrorist attacks are on the rise both in number and magnitude after the war. The study concludes that the War on Terror is leaving the world more at risk with adverse consequences on global peace and security by creating inefficient governments, malfunctioning institutions, cultural intrusion of the west, and degrading misconceptions like Islamophobia. Keywords: War on Terror, terrorism, Afghanistan, Iraq, peace, security, religion, ideology. INTRODUCTION TERRORISM: THE CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK There is a general agreement among people, both explicit Simply put, terrorism is an ism that appreciates terror.
    [Show full text]
  • When Does Contemporary History, the Modern World, Begin
    Speech on Terrorism on 27th June 2007 Fighting Terrorism in Democratic Societies By Chris Patten When does contemporary history, the modern world, begin? The study of history is divided into convenient chunks – the Homeric Age, the Roman Empire, the Mediaeval World, the Renaissance, the Enlightenment and so on. The last nugget of the past is followed by our own times. But when did they start? When did events leave the rails and spin off in a new direction? Which deed roused us from complacently assuming that we knew what our world was about and surprised us with the recognition that things had changed, that all was now different, that nothing would ever be quite the same again. Britain‟s fly-fishing foreign minister, Sir Edward Grey, is said to have observed one evening at the beginning of August 1914, as he awaited the dispatch of an ultimatum to Germany warning against the invasion of Belgium, “The lamps are going out all over Europe. I doubt that we shall see them lit again in our lifetime.” It is not difficult to recognise, as he did, the ending then of one chapter and the beginning of another. The eleventh of September, 2001, is a Sarajevo or Edward Grey moment for many of us, the real beginning of the millennium, the dreadful opening of a new century, the snuffing out of the lamps. Had those nineteen terrorists changed everything with the murder of almost three thousand men and women? There was no shortage of people to tell us that that was indeed the case.
    [Show full text]