Mary Douglas Vavrus – författare

American Cultural Studies is a conversation among scholars about  the sometimes contentious issue of what a specifically American cultural studies might look like. Assembling some of the field's most eloquent commentators, this volume stresses the importance of ahistorically informed cultural studies and delves into the discipline's roots in pragmatism, social activism, and radical politics. It also considers the moral and social responsibilities of citizen-intellectuals in the United States.  Throughout these spirited discussions, the emphasis is on moving from theory to practice: from text-based to experience-based research, from spectator- to conversation-based models of narrative production, from a historical to historically informed analysis, and from political detachment to political engagement. Speaking from a variety of perspectives, contributors advocate ways to integrate private scholarship with public participation: by incorporating the lessons of feminist methodologies grounded in dialogue and ethnographic fieldwork, by recentering cultural studies on issues of economic opportunity and job equity, or by physically returning as a participant to one's home community.  Offering fresh perspectives from within and outside the field, American Cultural Studies calls for intellectuals to engage in the cultures they study. By doing so, practitioners of cultural studies may succeed in affecting, rather than merely describing, the tensions and forces at work in the United States--its policies, its media structures, and its disintegrating democracy.

Media representations and practices that have emerged out of contemporary wars have been well documented by a wide array of books and articles. These treatments, however, have been less attentive to how cultural constructions of military personnel and war itself figure in the depiction of the incursions in Iraq and Afghanistan. In Post-Feminist War, Mary Douglas Vavrus argues that all of these identity categories are integral to our understanding of those fighting, saved, or victimized by war. She considers two important questions: how the construction of gender, race, and class in media are productive of rÉgimes of truth regarding war and military life, and how such constructions may also intensify militarism. By examining news and documentary media produced since September 11, 2001, Vavrus demonstrates that news narratives that include women use feminism selectively in gender equality narratives, which tend to reinforce historically resonant gender, race, and class identity constructions. She ultimately asserts that such reporting advances post-feminism, which, in tandem with banal militarism, subtly pushes military solutions for an array of problems women and girls face.

Media representations and practices that have emerged out of contemporary wars have been well documented by a wide array of books and articles. These treatments, however, have been less attentive to how cultural constructions of military personnel and war itself figure in the depiction of the incursions in Iraq and Afghanistan. In Post-Feminist War, Mary Douglas Vavrus argues that all of these identity categories are integral to our understanding of those fighting, saved, or victimized by war. She considers two important questions: how the construction of gender, race, and class in media are productive of rÉgimes of truth regarding war and military life, and how such constructions may also intensify militarism. By examining news and documentary media produced since September 11, 2001, Vavrus demonstrates that news narratives that include women use feminism selectively in gender equality narratives, which tend to reinforce historically resonant gender, race, and class identity constructions. She ultimately asserts that such reporting advances post-feminism, which, in tandem with banal militarism, subtly pushes military solutions for an array of problems women and girls face.