Lynching: American Mob Murder in Global Perspective

by Robert W. Thurston

Addressing one of the most controversial and emotive issues of American history, this book presents a thorough reexamination of the background, dynamics, and decline of American lynching. It argues that collective homicide in the US can only be partly understood through a discussion of the unsettled southern political situation after 1865, but must also be seen in the context of a global conversation about changing cultural meanings of 'race'. A deeper comprehension of the course of mob murder and the dynamics that drove it emerges through comparing the situation in the US with violence that was and still is happening around the world. Drawing on a variety of approaches - historical, anthropological and literary - the study shows how concepts of imperialism, gender, sexuality, and civilization profoundly affected the course of mob murder in the US. Lynching provides thought-provoking analyses of cases where race was - and was not - a factor. The book is constructed as a series of case studies grouped into three thematic sections. Part I, Understanding Lynching, starts with accounts of mob murder around the world. Part II, Lynching and Cultural Change, examines shifting concepts of race, gender, and sexuality by drawing first on the romantic travel and adventure fiction of the era 1880-1920, from authors such as H. Rider Haggard and Edgar Rice Burroughs. Changing images of black and white bodies form another major focus of this section. Part III, Blood, Debate, and Redemption in Georgia, follows the story of American collective murder and growing opposition to it in Georgia, a key site of lynching, in the early twentieth century. By situating American mob murder in a wide international context, and viewing the phenomenon as more than simply a tool of racial control, this book presents a reappraisal of one of the most unpleasant, yet important periods of America's history, one that remains crucial for understanding race relations and collective violence around the world.

Genres: Race

442 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2011

Reviews

[Emillybeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thurston's thesis statements are broad and vague. It is not conpletely clear what he is stateing that he is trying to accomplish from this tome of a book. He is extremely redundant, and a little disorganized. Much of what he wants to say could be concised and organized in a more effeciant and easily digestible manner. While not his declared thesis, much of the book seems to be devoted to trying to prove that US Southern lynching was not at all connected to a desire by white people to subdue black populations, and rather it was a vigilante justice based on perceived threats and fear of crimes perpetrated by blacks based on racial prejudices of the whites in question. Thurston argues that by comparing mob lynching (loosely interpreted mob vigalante murder) in other countries he can show corrolations to the types of crimes proving the abscence of terrorism on the parts of whites as a means of control. However, by separating the history of black slavery, jim Crowe, the civil war, and the civil rights movement out of the narrative, Thurston does a disservice to the topic. You cannot compare southern lynching to the group muder of a supposed witch in a russiam village because the cultural context is not at all similar. It would be like equalizing the French Revolution to the American Revolution. Other than the "revoltution" they are completely dissimilar in their execution (pun intended) and outcome.

Additionally, he continuously cites evidence that completely contradicts his arguments.

The work, in and of itself, is not good. His arguments are not compelling, and his writing style needs editing. Many chapters simply rehash amd restate previous points. However, his massive amount of data gathered and organized around the topic of American lynching is invaluable. If you are looking for serious academic sources on the topic, this book is a veritable gem mine. As a resource to mine for primary and secondary source documents, it is invaluable, extremely important, and worth the read.