Beyond September 11: An Anthology of Dissent

by Phil Scraton (Editor)

The unprecedented and tragic events in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania left an indelible mark on world politics. Civilian deaths in horrific circumstances triggered an uncompromising response from the US administration and its an open-ended 'war on terrorism'. This anthology includes some of the world's leading commentators - Noam Chomsky, Robert Fisk, Naomi Klein, John Pilger, Paul Foot and A.Sivanandan. It presents accessible, detailed and often deeply personal accounts of the aftermath, the bombing of Afghanistan and the dubious claims for its legality. From investigative journalists to critical academics, human rights lawyers and anti-racist campaigners, the contributors are united in their opposition to military intervention in Afghanistan and beyond and to the attack on civil liberties in the US, the UK and Europe. From the US and Canada, Herman and Julia Schwendinger, Jonathan Farley, Tony Platt, Cecilia O'Leary, Christian Parenti and Michael Mandel are among critical academics who assess the validity, lawfulness and political consequences of the Bush/Blair agenda. European based commentators include Martti Gronfors and Thomas Mathiesen. Examining the the context and rhetoric of US vengeance -- ennobled by the symbolic title 'Enduring Freedom' -- they challenge political and popular definitions, constructions,pathologisation and reporting of terrorism. In questioning the representation of war as 'just', the anthology focuses on civilian deaths in Afghanistan, evidence of US/allied atrocities, violations of prisoners' rights and US determination to escalate military offensives, regardless of global destabilisation.

Genres: Politics

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[John Petersen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of essays by journalists, professors and intellectuals that had challenged many of the force-fed assumptions and war-drum beating from the Bush administration following the attacks of September 11. I wish I had read this book when it first came out in 2002. Reading it years later, though, has amazed me with the amount of prescience and forewarning it contains. Almost every contributor talked about how the so-called "War on Terror" would only increase the amount of anger directed toward the US (it most certainly has). They discuss major issues that are still plaguing this nation, such as racism, gun control, inherent violence, neo-imperialism and militarism, and even the struggles over immigration. It was almost like I was reading from today's headlines. I highly recommend this book.

[Rena · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good collection of essays providing a wide scope to critically analyse 9/11 and its aftermath. Really recommend