Introduction In the period between the end of the cold war in 1989 and the events of September 11, 2001, human rights became the dominant moral narrative by which world politics were organized. Inspired by the momentous political and cultural transformations taking place at the time, from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the … Read more
About the photos: These photos of internally displaced women and children in Afghanistan were taken for personal use, and I was hesitant to include copies of them with this article. I did not want the photos to read as a sort of “travel digest” to accompany an academic project about a place with which most … Read more
Reprinted with permission from Lo Que VI: Experiencias de un periodista alrededor del mundo, 1999, 189-92. What is the point of this shittylife if I am not even able todefend my own. – Virginia M. De Ayress(Mother of the tortured young woman) Each time the ex dictator, Augusto Pinochet, complained about the unjust treatment he received … Read more
As I look back on the article I wrote for the Journal of American History for its September 2002 issue, I am aware of how the archive that I and others helped create will soon take on a life of its own as it is made public. We are now engaged in the process of re-interviewing people, … Read more
The World Trade Center tragedy is now considered one of the most photographed events in the history of the world. Most of the photographs were taken by amateurs. Although professional photographers were on the scene immediately, amateur photos and video were picked up by news channels, newspapers, weekly magazines, and by Internet galleries. One of … Read more
Author’s note Giuliani Said Not To Giuliani said not to. The policeman yelled at people: “Put your cameras away, show some respect. This is a graveyard, not a place to come and gawk.” “Put your cameras away,” shouted the policewoman. “Keep the line moving.” “This is a crime scene, no pictures,” yelled a third. I … Read more
Trauma 9/11 – Related Links Here is New York The Oral History Project of Columbia University “Our Grief is Not A Cry For War” Protest and Performance Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett’s “Kodak Moments, Flashbulb Memories: Reflections on 9/11″ The Guys, a world premiere play commissioned by the Flea Theater in response to the events of 9/11 Flea Theatre Off Off Off Film Reviews … Read more
Trauma: Global, National, Everyday Adams, Vincanne. “Suffering the Winds in Lhasa: Politicized Bodies, Human Rights, Cultural Difference and Humanism in Tibet.” Medical Anthropology Quarterly 12.1 (1998): 74-102. Allison, Dorothy. Two or Three Things I Know for Sure. New York: Plume, 1995. Bal, Mieke, Jonathan Crewe and Leo Spitzer. Acts of Memory: Cultural Recall in the Present. Hanover: University Press … Read more
“Public Sentiments” September 11th confronted Americans with a new set of emotions in responding to an unexpected and tremendously violent event. These emotions were both deeply personal and also part of our public culture. What are the implications of public sentiments? How did the various emotions evoked by September 11th – grief, anger, sadness, vulnerability … Read more
Public Sentiments The construction of personal life within modern culture has been accompanied by a conception of emotion as central to what it means to have a private life. The keywords of this special issue might thus strike some as an unusual, even oxymoronic, coupling. In joining “public” to “sentiments”, however, we aim to challenge … Read more
