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Abstract
This article explores the American press's construction of a 9/11 meta-narrative within the sociopolitical post-9/11 context in which challenging the Bush administration's official story was viewed as unpatriotic. Specifically, the paper examines how the press reinforced the state's depoliticized good versus evil interpretation of 9/11. The paper reviews initial practices of narrating 9/11 including marking the event with historicity and failing to provide substantive political context for understanding the event. The paper also examines how these initial practices of collective memory set the tone for how the event was later appropriated into a variety of conservative political agendas far removed from the event itself. With respect to the latter, the paper argues that conservative American lobbies that are affiliated with the Bush administration used the press and state-sponsored narrative in their pro-life and anti-drug campaigns.
... Appropriation refers to the adoption and adaptation of foreign concepts, practices, or symbols with the goal of asserting authentic ownership over them (Jansen, 2007;Leavy, 2007). ...
Political actors across the globe often use the language of democracy, butthey do not all use the same language. Drawing on content analysis of 1,935speeches given between 2000 and 2010, this study examines how five NorthAfrican autocrats appropriated the global discursive form of democracy byaltering its content. These leaders proposed that the special circumstancesof each country preclude any one-size-fits-all global definition ofdemocracy, whose imposition in their countries, they claim, would beinappropriate, ineffective, or dangerous. Through their speeches, theserulers redefined democracy by engaging in active ideological work, weavingtogether discourses that combined global norms, state interests, and localvalues. This suggests that, in addition to being a benchmark by which tomeasure modes of governance, “democracy” is also a language game playedbetween actors on a global stage. By synthesizing theoretical frameworksdrawn from world polity and social movement studies traditions, this studyshows that peripheral actors may adapt global discourses purposefully andstrategically rather than encountering them as passive participants in apurely mimetic cultural diffusion process. This has implications for a widerange of global norms that are open to appropriation by local actorsdrawing on domestic and external political developments and experiences.
... Appropriation refers to the adoption and adaptation of foreign concepts, practices, or symbols with the goal of asserting authentic ownership over them (Jansen, 2007;Leavy, 2007). ...
Political actors across the globe often use the language of democracy, but they do not all use the same language. Drawing on content analysis of 1935 speeches given between 2000 and 2010, this study examines how five North African autocrats appropriated the global discursive form of democracy by altering its content. These leaders proposed that the special circumstances of each country preclude any one-size-fits-all global definition of democracy, whose imposition in their countries, they claim, would be inappropriate, ineffective, or dangerous. Through their speeches, these rulers redefined democracy by engaging in active ideological work, weaving together discourses that combined global norms, state interests, and local values. This suggests that, in addition to being a benchmark by which to measure modes of governance, ‘democracy’ is also a language game played between actors on a global stage. By synthesizing theoretical frameworks drawn from world polity and social movement studies traditions, this study shows that peripheral actors may adapt global discourses purposefully and strategically rather than encountering them as passive participants in a purely mimetic cultural diffusion process. This has implications for a wide range of global norms that are open to appropriation by local actors drawing on domestic and external political developments and experiences.
... Hierzu ist inzwischen eine Menge an Literatur entstanden, die kaum noch zu überblicken ist. Gleichwohl ist auffällig, dass sich der überwiegende Teil der Studien eher mit den Effekten oder Langzeitauswirkungen des Terrors oder terroristischer Anschläge beschäftigt als mit dem Ereignis selbst (für Letzteres siehe: ürry 2002; Lowrey 2004;Stichweh 2006;Leavy 2007a). Allerdings sollte dieses Interesse der letzten Jahre nicht darüber hinwegtäuschen, dass die Sprache vom Weltereignis deutlich älter ist. ...
Zusammenfassung
Der vorliegende Aufsatz beschäftigt sich mit dem Phänomen des Weltmedienereignisses. Die soziologische Forschung hat sich bisher sowohl auf theoretischer wie empirischer Ebene nur zaghaft mit diesem Begriff auseinandergesetzt. Ziel ist es deshalb, anhand einiger empirischer Beispiele (11. September 2001, Attentat auf John F. Kennedy, Untergang der Titanic) entsprechende Begrifflichkeiten zur Beschreibung dieses Phänomens zu erarbeiten. Dabei ist die spezifische Eigenlogik zu analysieren, die die Generierung solcher Ereignisse ermöglicht. Neben Mitteln der Systemtheorie greift der Aufsatz auch auf Überlegungen der Netzwerktheorie (Harrison White) zurück. Anhand von Termini wie Netdom, Hyperzyklus, Leitdifferenz etc. entwickelt der Text ein umfangreiches Inventar an Begriffen zur Beschreibung von zeitlichen, sozialen und sachlichen Aspekten von Weltmedienereignissen.
How can we interpret the use of history by decision-makers in debates on contemporary international conflicts? So far, the established theoretical conceptualisations in International Relations have been dominated by individualistic arguments. However, sociological scholarship on collective memory has demonstrated the intersubjective existence of social frameworks governing which histories can actually be mobilised in discourse, and in which functions. Furthermore, this scholarship has also emphasized the importance of intersubjective representations of the meaning and of the relationship to History. Consequently, we can presume the existence of specific “regimes of historicity” that will influence the ways in which individual actors perceive History as a legitimate source of useful and applicable lessons for the present. These two arguments are examined via a semi-qualitative corpus analysis, based on the debates prompted by the Kosovo Crisis in French, German, and U.S. newspapers. This analysis confirms that actors indeed refer more often to events that have had an important impact on national history. Furthermore, a qualitative analysis of references to the First World War and to the Vietnam War also shows that actors in different national contexts use history differently: In the U.S., decision-makers but also journalists and experts seem much more willing to draw usable lessons from the past than in France and in Germany. This may confirm the existence of a specific regime of historicity, shaped by a belief in the structural continuity of history, a belief that might be linked to the foreign policy identity of the U.S.
The 1999 shootings at Columbine High School received saturation coverage by the American media. How did newspaper reporting of the 2005 Red Lake Indian Reservation School shootings, the largest school killing since Columbine, compare with the press's representations of Columbine? In this article we perform a qualitative content analysis of three newspapers (The New York Times as the national paper of record, and local papers in the communities in which the events occurred) over a two-week period following each event. We found that the reporting of Columbine and Red Lake differed in terms of quantity, content, and form. Columbine was immediately marked with social significance and became a national story while Red Lake received significantly less coverage, mostly local. Red Lake reporting was explicitly raced and classed while the prominent role of race and gender in the Columbine killings was largely ignored by local and national media.
Most research on reporter practices examines coverage of contested topics. These require reporters to demonstrate objectivity by counterposing authoritative sources representing opposing sides. I examine news articles about a topic uncontested in the USA, female genital cutting (FGC), to complicate our understanding of how reporters do their job. In contrast to the literature, reporters strike a balance, including the ‘general public’ of FGC-practicing communities extensively. However, because the balance is confined to non-authoritative speakers ‘over there’, the balance nonetheless serves to stigmatize proponents. This research shows that the negative portrayal of members of FGC-practicing communities is due not only to their erasure in news coverage. Instead, whether standing translates into influence depends on context, something reporters can manipulate when there is consensus. Likewise, the separation of topics into contested and uncontested erases the ways in which controversy is not a characteristic of issues, but a function of reporter decisions.
History museums communicate the past and thereby contribute to a society's collective memory. In the past, curators used their professional standing to convey information and analysis. However, history museums increasingly take account of individuals' and groups' views of the past and are ever more wary of politically charged criticism. Drawing from interviews with key museum staff members, internal assessments and other writings about the exhibit and its creation, and observations of the exhibit, this article analyzes the Smithsonian's September 11 exhibit and the process of its development. Curators designed an exhibit that cast all, including museum visitors, as “witnesses” to events within a sharply delineated time period. By personalizing this traumatic day, this approach averted political pressure. At the same time, the September 11 exhibit delivered implicit and explicit political messages rallying citizens around national symbols and key leaders. The exhibit's combination of a focus on the individual person and the nation as a whole is consistent with Tocqueville's assessment of American norms. Curators' choice to avoid larger geopolitical contexts to September 11 shows how a personalized approach seems to respect citizens but ultimately impoverishes public knowledge and collective memory.
In the disorder and confusion that surrounded the events of September 11, it was striking how soon and how widely practices of memory and memorialisation were invoked, Despite the general bewilderment and uncertainty that prevailed at the time, it seemed, as Marita Sturken writes, "as if people were already talking of memorials the day after, when the numbers and names of the missing were unknown and the search for survivors still the focus of national attention" (Sturken 2002:375). She points out that in general throughout history memorialisation has taken place some time after the events commemorated; it is usually only "after wars have been declared over, [that] towns, cities, and nations have built memorials to name the dead and those sacrificed" (Sturken 2002:378). It is perhaps in part, she suggests, the absence of the twin towers that has led people so rapidly to try to fill that gap with a presence conjured up by memorials. It wasn 't just talk of building memorials that was noticeable. There was an immediate move to other practices of commemoration and remembrance, again, before it was known who was being remembered.
Journalists have long been expected to provide information on important events as they occur: the who, what, where and when of breaking news. Yet, they also give the why and how of an event. Historical context can help interpret as well as augment the narrative, by tapping a collective memory, adding new evidence, revising a once agreed-upon past or imparting lessons and values. Although trained to examine the present, journalists in London, New York and Washington drew upon the past to try and explain the horrific events of 11 September 2001. This article examines the coverage of that astounding event with its global consequences and considers the uses of history by the New York Times , Washington Post and London-based newspapers, The Times and The Independent , in their coverage of the 11 September attacks. Historical references considered include context, nostalgia, analogies, values and past assumptions: categories defined earlier in the work of Richard Neustadt and Ernest May. London and American newspapers showed similar historical references, but also differences, which this article explains.
L'internet et le cyberespace ont joue un role particulierement important dans la communication sur et autour des attaques terroristes du 11 septembre aux Etats-Unis et dans la mediatisation de la guerre contre le terrorisme. A partir de son experience de ces evenements, l'A. propose quelques reflexions sur les nouveaux defis et les nouvelles possibilites que represente l'internet pour l'anthropologie, tant du point de vue de l'analyse que du point de vue de la methode. Quelle est la signification d'etre present sur l'internet, pour l'anthropologue ?