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MAKING WAR: EMBODIED INTERACTIONS, MEANING-MAKING AND THE WAR IN IRAQ By Jesse Paul Crane-Seeber Submitted to the Faculty of the School of International Service of American University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in International Relations Chair: tU iJUM- LL Patrick Thaddeus Jackson llllv-y/ 1 \ srf <eline-A/Iarie Pascale / - ^ f* Raymond Duvall kJUM) C9^ruA^ Dean of the School of International Service if 3 Qo Date (J 2009 America University Washington, D.C. 20016 -AMERICAN UNIVERSITY LIBRARY UMI Number: 3410326 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UNIT Dissertation Publishing UMI 3410326 Copyright 2010 by ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This edition of the work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. uestA ® ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 © COPYRIGHT by Jesse Paul Crane-Seeber 2009 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED For the better world we all long for and those who need it most MAKING WAR: EMBODIED INTERACTIONS, MEANING-MAKING, AND THE WAR IN IRAQ BY Jesse Paul Crane-Seeber ABSTRACT The invasion and occupation of Iraq has been the center of numerous political and theoretical disputes, and as the war heads into its seventh year, U.S. forces are still deployed in the tens of thousands, at massive social and economic expense. Rather than assuming that categories like 'soldier,' and 'combat zone' refer to stable objects, this dissertation looks at the work that goes into accomplishing them in practice. Asking how combatants make themselves available as 'instruments' of state power, the answers build from an analysis of interactive meaning-making processes amongst deployed U.S. combat forces in Iraq. Utilizing publicly available audio-visual recordings made in Iraq as mediated access to empirical relationships, the arguments of this dissertation build from close readings of particular interactions between U.S. combatants and the world around them. Combining methods and insights from Ethnomethodology, Science and Technology Studies, and post-structural International Relations theory, this study points to the production and reproduction of shared understandings of who we are, what is going on, and how to ii respond. In making meaning, this dissertation argues, identities, combat units, and hierarchies are all effects of the depictions of the world that combatants create using concepts and discourses from the broader social and institutional contexts they find themselves within. The dissertation concludes with an analysis of how the Abu Ghraib torture scandal came about, the investigation of combat incidents, the decision not to count Iraq deaths, and a discussion about tactics between two Colonels. Running through these various issues are two pervasive discourses, one which describes combat zones as inevitably violent, and the other which describes individual soldiers and marines as legally liable rational actors. Noting how these two ways of conceptualizing war overlap to produce confusing questions of moral accountability in combat, the institutional politics of these discourses in the war in Iraq are analyzed. Building from face-to-face interactions through public debates helps illustrate the ways that discourse circulates, linking different sites in a way that makes micro/macro distinctions moot. Keywords: Post Structural International Relations, Iraq War, Ethnomethodology, Science and Technology Studies, Iraq Documentary, Iraq Video, Masculinity, Process Ontology iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I have been extraordinarily privileged and blessed to have a string of dedicated and talented teachers in my life. Most recently, Patrick Jackson and Celine-Marie Pascale have been incredibly patient and generous in mentoring me through the process of producing a dissertation. Patrick welcomed me to American University, and has been unwavering in his support since the day I first met him. Through departmental politics and existential crises, he has been central to my ability to navigate the experience. Celine- Marie's Pascale's class, the 'Sociology of Language,' enriched my final year of coursework and profoundly influenced the way that I approach the practice of social science. As an intellectual sounding board and careful reader of my work, she always provides insights and suggests references that clarify and sharpen my thinking. I would also like to appreciate Bud Duvall for offering his support to me despite the distance between us. My trips to Minnesota were incredibly meaningful, both because of Bud's mentorship and because of the intellectual community he helped to cultivate. All three of you have made this project possible in different ways, and I am very grateful for your support. Before SIS, Naeem Inayatullah introduced me to Patrick at the International Studies Association meeting in New Orleans, and wrote the letter that helped get me into graduate school. Naeem's impact on my intellectual, pedagogic, and personal history has been intense, and I will always carry it with me. Dan Flerlage, Dave Lehman, and Karen iv Adams at the Lehman Alternative Community School helped provide an academic and social environment that can be soberly called Utopian. From ages 12-18,1 experienced direct participatory democracy in a public school, and was encouraged to test boundaries in the service of my passions. Learning to challenge authority with cogent arguments was a gift that keeps on giving. Long live Lehman Alternative Community School! I wish to extend my thanks to Dean Louis Goodman, Steve Silvia, and Mary Barton for helping me navigate the School of International Service, and to express gratitude for the SIS 4th year fellowship committee, the year of funding they provided helped me finish this project as quickly as I did. Special thanks are also due to my colleagues at American University, both in and out of the School of International Service. Jacob Stump, Benjamin Jensen, and Kiran Pervez have been supportive readers, critics, and reliable friends and allies. They show up for my ISA presentations and help me laugh at myself when I need it most. I am also grateful to Maria Amelia Viteri and Kristin Haltinner who wrestle with the same ethnomethodological demons, and do so with a yearning for social justice. Eve Bratman, Mark Hamilton, Robert Soden, Priya Dixit, Dan Yu, Ian Maley and Simon Nicholson were always down for intellectual discussion, a good laugh, or both. We shared quality time, and I wouldn't have learned to love DC without you. To my community, Aaron, Trina, Emily, Jim, Meenal, Che, Rafe, Trevor, Michael, Brett, Anne, Elizabeth, the DC V!s, ACSers, and all of those who've helped me imagine v ways of making things better, you are all gems of shining light in a world that's 'kinda not.' Keep doing what you're doing, you are each models of devoted friendship. My mother's example as an academic and principled human being is a particular inspiration as I follow her into academia, as is Robert's thinking on men and masculinity. I would also be remiss not to single out Frank, who showed me his world and opened his home to me so many times. To all of my families, Robert and Betsy, Paul and Joan, as well as my fabulous siblings, Matt, Sarah, Autumn, Rachel and Nate, plus their partners, Cara, David, Tracy and Mari, I am grateful for your support through thick and thin, and glad no one ever took me too seriously. Ann and Hans, and Tina and Stefan, have all welcomed me to Europe and showered me with encouragement. Bepa and Grandma believed and invested in me. Thank you all for your support. Stephanie, my proof reader, patron, comrade, chief counsel and life partner, your patience, faith, and occasional bribes helped me reach this point. Every day is better because you are in it. Thank you. vi Table of Contents ABSTRACT ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS LIST OF FIGURES: INTRODUCTION: MAKING WAR PUBLIC Chapter ONE: THE STATE OF THE LITERATURE ON STATE VIOLENCE 1 1: International Relations and the Social Sciences 1 2: Describing states: analytical and ethical considerations 2 3: Making sense of war and warriors 3 3.1: IR, ontology, and war: 3 3.2: The empirical study of militaries: being a soldier 4 3.3: History and the study of warriors: 4 3.4: Political and Social Psychology: obedience to orders and group conformity 5 3.5: Gender, war, and masculinity: 6 4: Putting the pieces together 6 TWO: FROM QUESTIONS TO ANSWERS VIA METHODOLOGY 6 1: The ontology of things: implications of a processual approach 6 vii 2: The shift from subjects to intersubjective relations 73 3: Identity and language: a processual approach 76 4: Identity and meaning-making as observable processes 82 5: Beyond interaction: bridging EM and STS with philosophical approaches 92 6: Method: access via video recordings 101 THREE: A TYPOLOGY OF COMBATANTS' INTERACTIONS 108 1. Playing and showing off 109 2: Praying 121 3: Healing and Medicalization 129 4: Calling home 135 5: Banter and debate 144 6: Combatants and self-crafting 158 FOUR: THE COORDINATION OF BODIES AND THINGS IN COMBAT 162 1: Moving through space: coordinating combatants in combat situations 166 2: A few portraits of embodied combatant relations with others 175 2.1: "Owning" the roads 175 2.2: Entering dwellings 182 2.3: Detaining Iraqi nationals 187 3: Friend or foe? Identifying enemies 195 4: Interactions between combatants and animals 205 viii 5: Interacting with land, water, and air 208 6: World making practices at war: some closing observations 222 FIVE: BREECHES OF THE ACCEPTABLE: INVESTIGATORY AND JUDICIAL ACCOUNTABILITY PRACTICES 226 1: Excessive cruelty: torture, rape, and murder in U.S.