Military power and popular protest : the U.S. Navy in Vieques, Puerto Rico / Katherine T. McCaffrey.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McCaffrey, Katherine T., 1966-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United States. Navy.

Government, Resistance to.

History.

Civil-military relations.

Target practice.

Protest movements.

Vieques Island (P.R.)--History--20th century.

Vieques Island (P.R.).

Protest movements--Puerto Rico--Vieques Island--History--20th century.

United States. Navy--Target practice--History--20th century.

United States.

Civil-military relations--Puerto Rico--Vieques Island--History--20th century.

Government, Resistance to--Puerto Rico--Vieques Island--History--20th century.

Puerto Rico--Vieques Island.

Physical Description:

xvii, 218 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

New Brunswick, N.J. : Rutgers University Press, [2002]

Summary:

Residents of Vieques, a small island just off the east coast of puerto Rico, live wedged between an ammunition depot and live bombing range for the U.S. Navy. Since the 1940s when the navy expropriated over two-thirds of the island, residents have struggled to make a life amid the thundering of bombs and rumbling of weaponry fire. Like the army's base in Okinawa, Japan, the facility has drawn vociferous protests from residents who challenged U.S. security interests overseas. In 1999, when a local civilian employee of the base was killed by a stray bomb, Vieques again erupted in protests that have mobilized tens of thousands of individuals and have transformed this tiny Caribbean Island into the setting for an international cause celebre.

Katherine T. McCaffrey gives a complete analysis of the troubled relationship between the U.S. Navy and island residents. She explores such topics as the history of U.S. naval involvement in Vieques; a grassroots mobilization-led by fishermen-that began in the 1970s; how the navy promised to improve the lives of the island residents-and failed; and the present-day emergence of a revitalized political activism that has effectively challenged naval hegemony.

Military bases overseas act as lightning rods for anti-American sentiment, thus threatening this country's image and interests abroad. By analyzing this particular, conflicted relationship, the book also explores important lessons about colonialism and postcoloialism and the relationship of the United States to the countries in which it maintains military bases.

Contents:

1 A Strategic Colony on the Margins of the Empire 17

2 Cultural Identity in Vieques 43

3 The Fishermen's War 67

4 We Are a Species in Danger of Extinction: The Aftermath of the Fishermen's Crusade 98

5 Organizing for Change 124

6 From Pescadores to Rescatores: The Resurgence and Transformation of Struggle 147

7 The Battle of Vieques 173.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 197-206) and index.

ISBN:

0813530903

0813530911

OCLC:

48469085