Research Triangle Seminar in the History of the Military, War, and Society

The United States has undertaken a striking punitive turn in the past forty years. It has been evident in a shift from rehabilitation to punishment in criminal justice, soaring incarceration (once in line with other western societies in that regard, the United States now far outpaces nearly every nation), an endless "war on drugs," successive sex-crime panics, the militarization of American borders, the spread of punitive norms like "zero tolerance," surveillance already mushrooming before 9/11, and self-righteous rhetoric about crime and immorality and evident in President George W. Bush's promise to "rid the world of evil," the punitive thrust of U.S. war-making, and an official embrace of torture. On a subject yielding myriad explanations most by social scientists and legal experts, but not historians, this lecture emphasizes two: Among its sources, the punitive turn reflected the inward shift after the 1960s of America's long-running militarization. And post-9/11 U.S. policy reflected not only external threats, but a political culture becoming more punitive for decades. The Bush presidency was its logical if extreme product.

Michael Sherry is the Richard W. Leopold Professor of History at Northwestern University. His research focuses on the history of war, politics, and culture in twentieth century America. His books are: Preparing for the Next War: American Plans for Postwar Defense, 1941-45 (New Haven, 1977); The Rise of American Air Power: The Creation of Armageddon (New Haven, 1987), which won the Bancroft Prize in 1988; In the Shadow of War: The United States since the 1930s (New Haven, 1995); and Gay Artists in Modern American Culture: An Imagined Conspiracy (Chapel Hill, 2007). He is currently embarked on a project entitled Go Directly to Jail: The Punitive Turn in American Life.

The seminar starts at 4:00 pm. Refreshments will be served afterwards.

Free Parking is available in the lot behind the Carr Building.

A pre-circulated paper is available a week in advance at dirk.bonker@duke.edu.

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Research Triangle Seminar Series "History of the Military, War, and Society"

This standing seminar on the "HISTORY OF THE MILITARY, WAR, AND SOCIETY," started in January 2006. The PRIMARY PURPOSE of the seminar is to provide a forum for historians working on issues relating to war, peace and society and in the field of a most broadly defined history of the military. Far from engaging in any policing of boundaries, the seminar recognizes the rich and ever-growing diversity of approaches and methods that have come to characterize the study of the military, war and society. The seminar is open to approaches
from political, diplomatic and institutional history as well as economic, social, cultural and gender history. Studies of violent conflicts, peace building and peace keeping will also be included. The goal is to create a
stimulating conversation across and on different theoretical approaches and methodologies. Furthermore, we would like to extend the geographical and temporal scope of our discussion beyond the Americas and Europe. We aim for a global history of the military, war, and society that explores and relates the developments in different regions and time periods.

This inter-university seminar is meant to bring together all interested SCHOLARS FROM THE TRIANGLE AREA AND BEYOND. Our meetings provide an opportunity to present and discuss the findings of on-going research by historians in and outside the triangle area. Speakers showcase their work and offer insight into the scholarly directions and developments in the field. Open to faculty and students, the seminar also makes a major contribution to graduate training by offering advanced Ph.D. candidates an opportunity to present their work in progress.

The seminar meets three times a semester on Friday afternoon from 4 - 6 pm in the Carr Building at Duke University's East Campus. We rely primarily, but not exclusively, on pre-circulated papers, with the speakers introducing their work for no more than 10 minutes, to ensure the most substantive discussions. Refreshments will be served.

The ORGANIZERS of the "History of the Military, War and Society Seminar" are:

- Dirk Bönker (Duke University)

- Karen Hagemann (UNC at Chapel Hill) in cooperation with

- Michael Allan (NC State University)

- Michael Allsep (UNC at Chapel Hill)

- Joseph Glatthaar (UNC at Chapel Hill)

- Richard Kohn (UNC at Chapel Hill)

- Wayne Lee (UNC at Chapel Hill)

- Heather Marshall (Duke University)