Theorizing the standoff : contingency in action / Robin Wagner-Pacifici.

Format:

• Book

Author/Creator:

• Wagner-Pacifici, Robin Erica.

Series:

• Cambridge cultural social studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

• Social conflict.
• Social conflict--United States--Case studies.
• Conflict management.
• United States.

Genre:

• Case studies.

Physical Description:

xiv, 276 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2000.

Summary:

This book combines original theoretical analysis with real life case studies to examine the nature of the standoff. Starting with the standoffs of Wounded Knee, MOVE, Ruby Ridge, Waco, Freemen of Montana, Tupac Amaru, and Republic of Texas, the author explores the archetypal patterns of human action and cognition that move us into and out of these highly charged situations and seeks to theorize the contingency of all such moments. As an emergency situation where interaction is both frozen and continuing, the standoff evokes original ideas about time, space and appropriate or anticipated action, and individuals and organizations often find their standard operating procedures and categories deflected and transformed. By tracking and analyzing such impositions and deflections, this book aims to develop a theory of the fundamental existential indeterminacy of social life and the possible role that improvisation can play in navigating this indeterminacy and preventing a violent and destructive conclusion.

Contents:

• 1 Theorizing contingency 1
• 2 The times of standoffs 60
• 3 The spaces of the standoff 96
• 4 The action of standoffs 137
• 5 Endings and improvisations 214.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 258-267) and index.

ISBN:

• 0521652448
• 0521654793

OCLC:

41266220