Unconventional Combat: Intersectional Action in the Veterans' Peace Movement

by Michael A. Messner

Overview

In recent decades, there has been a generational shift of the US veterans' peace movement, from one grounded mostly in the experiences of older white men of the Vietnam War era, to one informed by a young, diverse cohort of post-9/11 veterans. In Unconventional Combat, Michael A. Messner traces this transformation through the life-history interviews of six veterans of color to show how their experiences of sexual and gender harassment, sexual assault, racist and homophobic abuse during their military service has shaped their political views and action. Drawing upon participant observation with the Veterans For Peace and About Face organizations and interviews with older male veterans as his backdrop, Messner shows how veterans' military experiences form their collective "situated knowledge" of intersecting oppressions. This knowledge, Messner argues, further shapes their intersectional praxis, which promises to transform the veterans' peace movement and potentially link their anti-militarist work with other movement groups working for change. As intersectionality has increasingly become central to the conversation on social movements, Unconventional Combat is not only a story about the US veterans' peace movement, but it also offers broad relevance to the larger world of social justice activism.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780197573662
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	05/21/2021
Series:	Oxford Studies in Culture and Politics
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	8 MB

About the Author

Michael A. Messner is Professor of Sociology and Gender Studies at the University of Southern California. He is the author of several books, including Some Men: Feminist Allies and the Movement to End Violence Against Women (Oxford University Press, 2015) and, most recently, Guys Like Me: Five wars, Five Veterans for Peace (2019). His honors include the Pursuit of Justice Award from the California Women's Law Center, the Feminist Mentoring Award from the Sociologists for Women in Society, and the Jessie Bernard Award, presented by the American Sociological Association in recognition of contributions to the understanding of women's lives.

Table of Contents

Prologue Chapter 1: Action at intersections: Wars, militarization, and veterans' peace movements INTERLUDE 1: "It was all men." Chapter 2: "I was in unconventional combat": Intersectional pathways through the military INTERLUDE 2: Guys being guys Chapter 3: "Rip off the band-aid": A new generation confronts the veterans' peace movement INTERLUDE 3: "We cannot stand in fear" Chapter 4: "Connecting the dots": From silos to intersectional coalitions INTERLUDE 4: "Say it, mean it, and do something about it." Chapter 5: "You've got to do something radical": Intersectional praxis in social movements Appendix I: Methodological Appendix: Centering Intersectional Standpoints List of References Notes Appendix

Editorial Reviews

"(The Book) provide(s) insight into their efforts for peace, racial equality, and the LGBT+ movement." — E. Hannel, CHOICE Connect, Vol. 59 No. 8

"Veterans of any war in any country are intersectionally gendered. Michael Messner has listened carefully to 6 American recent veterans whose experiences and ideas are rarely heard. He has thus drawn back the curtain both on today's US military's misogynist and racialized culture and on older white male veteran peace activists' difficulty in grasping its implications for them. I'll be thinking about this book for a long time." — Cynthia Enloe, author of Nimo's War, Emma's War: Making Feminist Sense of the Iraq War

"Michael Messner does a beautiful job of thinking deeply about the interconnectedness of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality and social class as they affect the standpoint and experiences of young activists. His book offers something really substantial to the study of intersectionality and social movements, and it's a wonderful contribution to these fields of study." — Mignon R. Moore, Columbia University

"A groundbreaking analysis of veterans and the peace movement, Messner focuses on a young generation outside of the heterosexual, white male norm in the military. Told through compelling narratives and an intersectional lens, this is an important book for anyone interested in the complications of serving in the military and then coming to seek an end to war." — Jo Reger, Professor of Sociology, Oakland University

From the Publisher