Open AccessPower, Borders, Security, Wealth: Lessons of Violence and Desire from September 11
Author(s) -
Agathangelou Anna M.,
Ling L. H. M.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
international studies quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.897
H-Index - 100
eISSN - 1468-2478
pISSN - 0020-8833
DOI - 10.1111/j.0020-8833.2004.00313.x
Subject(s) - militarization , elite , patriotism , masculinity , privilege (computing) , femininity , politics , sociology , power (physics) , sacrifice , gender studies , globalization , human security , political economy , law , political science , social science , history , physics , quantum mechanics , archaeology
America's “war on terror” and Al Qaeda's “jihad” reflect mirror strategies of imperial politics. Each camp transnationalizes violence and insecurity in the name of national or communal security. Neoliberal globalization underpins this militarization of daily life. Its desire industries motivate and legitimate elite arguments (whether from “infidels” or “terrorists”) that society must sacrifice for its hypermasculine leaders. Such violence and desire draw on colonial identities of Self vs. Other, patriotism vs. treason, hunter vs. prey, and masculinity vs. femininity that are played out on the bodies of ordinary men and women. We conclude with suggestions of a human security to displace the elite privilege that currently besets world politics.