Aftershock: Confronting Trauma in a Violent World: A Guide for Activists and Their Allies

by Pattrice Jones

Overview

Aftershock is about the real war against terror—the struggle for a world in which nobody lives in fear of atrocities perpetrated by human beings. Every day, people who push against violence and injustice or pull for peace and freedom must face their own fears. Many activists also must struggle with "aftershock," the physical and emotional reverberations of frightening, horrifying, or otherwise traumatizing experiences endured in the course of their activism. This book is for aftershocked activists and their allies, as well as for people and organizations that practice high-risk activism. It includes practical tips for individuals, organizations, and communities, as well as information about how traumatic events affect our bodies and abilities. Aftershock explores the culture of trauma that people have created through our violent exploitation of the Earth, other animals, and one another. As long as we continue to perpetrate such violations, we will never fully heal our own traumatic injuries. This book, therefore, is for survivors of all kinds of trauma, for therapists who treat trauma, and for anyone who hopes to reduce the amount of terror in the world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781590561034
Publisher:	Lantern Publishing & Media
Publication date:	03/01/2007
Series:	Flashpoint Ser.
Edition description:	ANN
Pages:	264
Product dimensions:	8.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Pattrice Jones is an ecofeminist writer, scholar, and activist who, along with Miriam Jones, cofounded VINE Sanctuary, an LGBTQ-run farmed animal sanctuary that operates within an understanding of the intersection of oppressions. In addition to her books for Lantern, she has contributed chapters to Ecofeminism: Feminist Intersections with Other Animals and the Earth; Confronting Animal Exploitation: Grassroots Essays on Liberation and Veganism; Sister Species: Women, Animals and Social Justice; Sistah Vegan; Contemporary Anarchist Studies; Igniting a Revolution: Voices in Defense of the Earth; and Terrorists or Freedom Fighters?: Reflections on the Liberation of Animal.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments     vii
User's Guide     xi
Geography     1
Preface     3
Our Animal Emotions     14
Our Bodies, Our Selves     16
Adaptive Affects     23
Atmospheric Pressure     33
Talking Animals     36
High-Risk Activists     40
Who We Are     43
What Has Been Done to Us     49
What We Have Seen     58
What We Need     60
Geology     63
Aftershock     65
Post-traumatic Stress     69
Depression     85
Special Features of Aftershock     90
Rescue     96
Sanctuary     96
Memory and Mourning     99
Connection     104
Making Peace     110
Action against Fracture     114
Tips for Activists     116
Tips for Comrades and Other Allies     134
Tips for Organizations     138
Tips for Movements     146
Tips for Counselors and Therapists     149
Tips for Communities     164
Ecology     167
Trauma Culture     169
Overview     169
Causes and Consequences     174
Rescue     183
Truth Against Terror     190
Animals Are Us     193
We Are In and Of the World     202
We Are Not Alone     208
Afterword     212
Notes     215
References     237
Index     251

What People are Saying About This

Jeffrey Luers

Pattrice Jones sets the stage to begin healing the trauma associated with not just resisting oppression and injustice, but having to experience it. She offers real steps toward recognizing and correcting the problems facing humans, our planet and our animal relations. This book is a light in the dark for those of us who have dared to challenge the status quo. (Jeffrey "Free" Luers, Imprisoned Eco-Activist)