POLITICAL issue- 9/11 and the Military Flashcards
Give an example of how sports can become mixed with politics?
The 1980’s US hockey team
(Mc Donald, 2012)
The soviets vs the US, the Americans beat the soviets, a massive moment for US nationalism- communism vs capitalism.
Sport- a place where ideas of nationalism and politics play out
What is culture?
A place where meaning is made- links to hegemony and the idea that sport functions as a PEDAGOGY.
Culture= dominant meanings and ideas- become hegemonic rulings that dictate society= a form of pedagogy
Why do we engage with music, sports, media? we LEARN from these things.
What are the main/ key elements of culture?
Identity, norms, and values made within culture.
A site of meaning making, a space where people actively interpret and create meanings through interactions.
A site for constructions of cultural identity.
How does sport weave narratives?
Sport= a tool used to construct narratives of who the US/ countries are in composition to others (SovietUnion)
The arena of sport- functions to point/ highlight the superiority of the US ‘way of life’
Discipline individuals into proper citizens, cold war and sport lined by militarisation and hegemony
What does having a strong identification with a nation state look like?
Flags, national pride through anthems and celebrations- usually through sport.
Clothing and choice of living/ ways of living.
Is it important to have a strong identification with your nation state and how do leaders get citizens to identify with nation states?
For those in power, it is important that citizens have a strong relationship to the nation state. Allows hegemony to take place, control of political signs.
Through voting and through culture/ music, but can be changed by things like immigration status.
Explain the post 9/11 ‘War on Terror’?
Following 9/11, lead to the invasion of Afghanistan on Oct 7, 2001, a movement that lasted until 2021.
Saddam Husain captured in Dec 2003, an era of the US asserting a right to attack nations who have not attacked, made threats or planned attacks (Stempel, 2018)
9/11 leads to a 20 year war.
(Silk and Falcous, 2005)- this lead to a crisis in US identity?
The events of 9/11 disrupted all US feelings.
They considered themselves to be the most powerful leaders in the free world
Events of 9/11 allow dominant groups to redefine meanings of US identity=
WHITE, HETEROSEXUAL MALES doing this, didn’t like feeling weak and suspendible to attacks.
How did the US assert it’s identity following 9/11?
Through Mediated Spectacles (Kellener, 2003)
-The military brought in firefighters and police to sports games, Sports broadcasts were taking place from an army base in Afghanistan.
An interconnection between military and sport
Formatted in media culture, placing the issues to the public in an eye catching way.
What is the intended affect of a media spectacle?
Takes away from the seriousness of something and eliminates the likelihood of questioning and critiquing something, blind sided visually by the spectacle.
Give an example of a media spectacle in sport?
The Minnesota Vikings pre game chant, the banging of the drum from General Jon Jensen of the Minnesota National Guard.
What does Fischer say about the media? (2014)
War as a mediated spectacle can shape an opinion by distancing, disengaging and distracting citizens from the reality of war.
What were some visible signs of nationalism post 9/11?
Post 9/11 saw…
An increase in giant American flags
The regular appearance of troops and military fly-overs
Coincides with military interventions
Military recruitments in schools
Patriotic acts
Who were some of the key people mediating sports and military narratives?
Produced by people within institutional sports media
Leads to the reconstruction of US identities at the Super Bowl, broadcasting from Afghanistan.
Calling back to historical ideologies.
What was the case of Pat Tillman?
(Kusz, 2007)
Patrick Daniel Tillman Jr. was an American professional football player for the Arizona Cardinals of the NFL who left his sports career and enlisted in the United States Army Special Operations in May 2002 in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks.
Was killed in combat- was actually killed by a US solider but the US military covered this up and used him as an example as they wanted to use him for recruitment
= sport compliant for perpetuating military beliefs.
What was the wider spread discrimination due to 9/11?
Challenging notions of collectivism (Brown University, 2023)
In the wake of 9/11, U.S. policies, intensified police militarisation, and expanded mass surveillance= racially profiled Muslims and people of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and Arab descent
Post 9/11 expansions of police militarisation andmass surveillancehave intensified the criminalisation of many racialised groups, from Muslims and Arabs to Latin immigrant communities to Black and Indigenous organisers.
What was the affect of 9/11 on hate crime incidents?
Between 2000 and 2009, the percentage of hate crime incidents directed towards Muslims increased by over 500 percent.
