Issues Of War Research Articles

Ethnic and Demographic Changes in Hungary’s (More Than) 1100 Years Long History

This paper will follow the ethnic and demographic changes of Hungary across the changing aspects of Hungarian history. It will discuss the issues of war, devastating sicknesses, migration and emigration.

Worth Fighting For: Canada's Tradition of War Resistance from 1812 to the War on Terror ed. by Lara Campbell, Michael Dawson, and Catherine Gidney

Reviewed by: Worth Fighting For: Canada's Tradition of War Resistance from 1812 to the War on Terror ed. by Lara Campbell, Michael Dawson, and Catherine Gidney Nathan Smith Lara Campbell, Michael Dawson, and Catherine Gidney, eds., Worth Fighting For: Canada's Tradition of War Resistance from 1812 to the War on Terror (Toronto: Between the Lines 2015) The edited collection, Worth Fighting For, is an important addition to historical literature about Canada. The nineteen different contributors provide insight into the politics, activism, institutions, social movements, and individuals that make up a long tradition of Canadian war resistance. The volume contains valuable historical information, engaging and important stories, and thought-provoking commentary. It certainly supports the editors' claims that "military conflict and mobilization in Canada have never gone unchallenged or unquestioned," and that "Canada's war resisters were a complex, active, and multifaceted group." (11) In addition to the editors' introduction, the book is composed of seventeen chronologically organized chapters, dealing with matters as far back as the Militia Act of 1793 and as recent as public debate about Canada's military mission in Afghanistan. The 20th-century and English Canada receive the bulk of the attention. Jonathan Seiling's discussion of the historic peace churches during the War of 1812 in Chapter 1 provides evidence of the complex reaction to that conflict in Canada, and of the significance of requisitioning and billeting as experiences of the burdens of war. Ross Fair impressively surveys the efforts of pacifist sects to secure exemption from military duty in Upper Canada and Canada West in Chapter 2. But that is where the book's pre-Confederation history ends. Pre-20th-century history ends with the next chapter, in which Amy Shaw offers a welcome new perspective on the Anglo-Boer War by reviewing opposition to Canada's first foreign war. The first three chapters suggest a relationship between war resistance and the extent of mobilization. The small-scale of mobilization for the war in South Africa must partly explain the "muted anti-war voice in Canada" (48) that Shaw analyzes. In sharp contrast is the War of 1812, which threatened homes and communities, and made demands Canadians could often not ignore. Whereas the War of 1812 transformed social life in parts of British North America, the Anglo-Boer War did not, however important it was politically. The practical and material realities of war played at least a role in determining the level and nature of opposition to war. The book offers 20th-century comparisons to these 19th-century conflicts in the form of the world wars, in which Canada mobilized on a massive scale, and the Cold War, which shaped Canadian politics and society for forty years, but led to participation in only one war, the Korean War. Two chapters in the book deal with the First World War and three with the Second World War. Seven of the remaining nine chapters look at the postwar period and Cold War issues, and the last two chapters are about the War on Terror. That nearly half of the book is about Cold War Canada means it is hardly even its historical coverage, but since a great deal has been written about conscription and the World Wars there is [End Page 316] reason to showcase scholarship on an era currently generating increased interest. One of the historical trends the chapters suggest is the declining importance of religion for war resistance. Of the eight chapters covering the period 1812–1945, five deal explicitly with religion, whereas the remaining nine chapters on the period after 1945 do not. This periodization proposes a pattern of secularization that is doubtlessly over-simplified, but it at least asks us to consider how moral philosophies and faith traditions have been important for war resistance over time. The book's chapters might lead to the conclusion that the ideological roots of modern Canadian war resistance are in internationalism and humanitarianism, especially their feminist versions. It is possible, however, that the peace activism addressed in several of the post-1945 chapters was partially informed by religion, or shaped to some extent by religious institutions. What is clear is that a moral or...

Governments, Governance and War: What We Have Learned in Iraq An Introduction

Reflective of Public Voices unique approach, the works selected for the symposium represent a wide specter of genres: from analytical articles to an eyewitness account to several poems and a play. The symposium contributors, each through a different lens, examine issues of governance and war, democracy and freedom, national security and the right of nations to self-determination and discuss the lessons the conflict in Iraq has taught us about bureaucracy, civil service, political actors and the value of human life.

ПРОБЛЕМА НАЦИОНАЛЬНОЙ И РЕЛИГИОЗНОЙ ДИСКРИМИНАЦИИ В ИДЕОЛОГИЧЕСКОЙ ПОЛИТИКЕ ТРЕТЬЕГО РЕЙХА И РАДИКАЛЬНОЙ ОРГАНИЗАЦИИ ИГИЛ

The spread and expansion of the influence of international terrorist organizations on a global scale keep this phenomenon in the focus of academic interest. And it is not without reason that in the last few years the world’s attention has been drawn to the issue of war on terrorism and extremism, the global problems of mankind at the beginning of XXI century. The aim of this article is comprehension of the phenomenon of national discrimination that took place at the beginning of XX century in Nazi Germany in the form of Holocaust and has resurged in the activity of the Middle-East terrorist organization ISIL as means of fight against all infidels. The authors come to the conclusion that at the bottom of functioning of the Third Reich and the ISIL there are common ideological tenets concerning the methods of state establishing and the system of its further functioning. The main tools of such states are violence and physical extermination of the people on national and religious grounds as well as application of terror methods against civilian population.

Women and children, war and peace: political agency in time of conflict

The four books under review focus on different aspects of war and conflict, but they all make it clear that women and children are more than their victims. They can be, and often are, active participants in all dimensions of conflict, from taking up arms to working for peace. While all four books paint an appropriately grim picture of war and its impact, there is also some optimism to be found in the resilience shown by women and children as they face the brutality of war and often actively seek to work for peace. Three of the books examine women's involvement in conflict, war, peace and peacemaking, and the aftermath of these events, albeit in very different ways-although all view women as active participants in the process rather than as victims. The fourth book included in this article, Children and global conflict, is not only relevant to the discussion, but also provides another important lens through which we can examine issues of conflict, war and peace. This review article provides insight into the contrition made to the field by these recent books individually, as well as when considered as parts of a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Portrayal of King Henry in Kenneth Branagh’s Adaptation of Henry V

The issue of war is present in a number of Shakespeare’s works, one of them being Henry V. The figure of King Henry, his motivations to go to war, and his behavior in the battlefield are among some of the elements that can be explored in theatrical and filmic productions. The aim of this article is to cinematically analyze the film adaptationof the play, directed by Kenneth Branagh in 1989, more specifically the portrayal of the complex figure of King Henry, as well as how war, violence, and their consequences arevisually presented, mostly focusing on the battle of Agincourt.

Colombia and the FARC: Peace and Amnesty

This policy brief takes a look at the issue of the 50-year war that has been ongoing between the Government of Colombia and the FARC-EP (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - People’s Army). It is “written” by Colombia’s chief of the government’s negotiating team at the peace talks in Havana, and is to be “presented” to the President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos. It looks at the background of the conflict, as well as efforts to end it. The brief highlights 3 pieces of proposed ways in which the conflict could be ended. It looks at strict government guidelines, all-out war, and amnesty. It specifically highlights amnesty as the most effective method that should be pursued by the government. (Between the time when this brief was written in March 2016 and the present, the peace talks were concluded, brought to a referendum on October 2nd that would fully accept the agreements, and failed to pass.)

Past Jihads, Citizenship and Regimes of Memory in Modern Spain

The involvement of Western citizens in jihadist activities bears important epistemological consequences: presented as a clash of civilizations, Islamic terrorism brings to the fore the issue of civil war. This article, after underlining that both terrorism and holy wars have a long pedigree in Western history, traces the interplay of religious and political tropes and semantics in the origin of terrorism, in the West in general and in Spain in particular. Highlighting the overlap of traditional faithful/unfaithful cleavages into modern friend/enemy political dichotomies, it summarizes the history of modern Spain as a sequence of civil wars in which political and meta-political discourses and practices of exclusion evolved towards extermination solutions in the twentieth century. This account allows for a reflection on the crisis of the regime of memory established after Franco’s dictatorship in Spain.

Zimmer mit kolossaler Aussicht. War Rooms als imaginäre Aushandlungsorte von Störungen

During the Cold War numerous fictional scenarios featured War Rooms and bunkers as control rooms. In these places we witness how a head of government is negotiating with a political opponent in times of crises and deciding on war or peace. In this paper, I will discuss three literary and cinematic treatments that focus on crises situations that broach the issue of atomic war. I consider the war room (and its environment) as an experimental laboratory that tests the decision-making ability of any political leader and his skills to handle technical or human failures that threaten to cause a nuclear war. As I will argue, in fiction human control and sovereignty were replaced by computers that took command. This loss of human agency was caused by the medialisation and mechanisation of the nuclear weapons control. Drawing on these deliberations, this article aims to introduce a typology of disruption. Based on the analysis of Cold War fictional treatments, this typology identifies different ways of handling incidents caused by human or technical agents as well as the different ways of solving (or failing to solve) a nuclear crisis.

OORLOG IN DIE WêRELD VAN DIE OU TESTAMENT: VERSKEIE PERSPEKTIEWE

The title is two-pronged. On one hand the article deals with the variety of (and contrary) views on war in the Old Testament world, as well as the variety of scholarly viewpoints on this matter. It is advocated that the conflicting views on war encountered in the Old Testament world cannot be confined and systematised to a clearly uniformed Biblical view on war which could function as a prescriptive norm for Christians today. The views encountered in the Old Testament are a result of the historical circumstances in which the texts originated, and correlate with the needs of a particular community at a certain stage in history. Studying these views has the value of providing insight into what can be called the human predicament as far as the issue of war is concerned. Ways are explored for using this insight to facilitate relevant serious debate on the issue in the (post-)modern world.

Gender Difference and the Liberal-Realist Divide: Citizen Opinions of Power, Institutions, and War in Global Comparison

Recent scholarship has raised the hypothesis that gender difference in attitudes toward global issues may be rooted in a broader gender difference in world views, perhaps along the familiar liberal-realist divide. However, evidence for this hypothesis is limited. Most research examines gender difference in the US, and there is an almost exclusive focus on gender difference in attitudes toward military force and war. This paper offers a broader perspective and more cross-national evidence. Specifically, I examine gender difference in opinion surveys from more than forty countries across three categories of global issues: military power and balance of power, global institutions and their legitimacy, and military force and war. Taking the evidence as a whole, my major finding is that gender difference is greatest on issues of violence, force, and war. Second, it is only in the US that gender polarization characterizes general views of international institutions, but there is evidence in global opinion that multilateral military interventions lower gender difference, and women demonstrate less support for expending resources in the pursuit of power.

Exploring Lincoln: Great Historians Reappraise Our Greatest President ed. by Harold Holzer, Craig L. Symonds, and Frank J. Williams

Reviewed by: Exploring Lincoln: Great Historians Reappraise Our Greatest President ed. by Harold Holzer, Craig L. Symonds, and Frank J. Williams Phillip W. Magness Exploring Lincoln: Great Historians Reappraise Our Greatest President. Edited by Harold Holzer, Craig L. Symonds, and Frank J. Williams. The North’s Civil War. (New York: Fordham University Press, 2015. Pp. viii, 293. Paper, $24.95, ISBN 978-0-8232-6563-3; cloth, $99.00, ISBN 978-0-8232-6562-6.) Drawing together sixteen essays from the Lincoln Forum’s recurring Gettysburg conference on the Civil War, this well-rounded volume offers the reader a glimpse of recent and emerging scholarly discussions in the crowded field of Lincoln studies. The contributions fall into loose thematic groupings, covering the political aspects of Abraham Lincoln’s presidency, his personal and family life, and his wartime leadership, and include a handful of analytical studies on Lincoln’s contemporaries, both friend and foe. Unsurprising given the impressive assemblage of contributors, most of the chapters draw heavily on recent monographs by their respective authors or extend those works into closely related research directions. Some contributors visit understudied elements of Lincolniana. For example, William C. Harris’s chapter on the 1860 election revisits the complex political mechanics that secured Lincoln’s nomination and eventual election as president, providing a cohesive play-by-play of the campaign as a political narrative. The reader will also find new insights on two much-neglected subjects. First is Barnet Schecter’s probe of rumors on the Union home front about [End Page 679] Confederate conspiracies during the New York City draft riots of 1863, which would stand out among the largest political uprisings in American history were it not for the shadow of the war itself. Second, and one of the most interesting contributions by far, is Amanda Foreman’s examination of the Emancipation Proclamation’s reception in Britain. Using the journalistic debate over the war as a backdrop, Foreman follows the proclamation’s dissemination and its extended effects on British politics in framing slavery as a war issue. Her conclusion that the British reception of the proclamation was shaped as much by the Confederate misreading of the proclamation’s effects as by the policy itself is intriguing. A substantial portion of the book is perhaps expectedly devoted to the Emancipation Proclamation, including essays by Eric Foner and Richard Striner. While the book is structured as a reappraisal of Lincoln premised on new research avenues, it is here that the volume hovers closest to the historiographical conventions of the past half-century, particularly with its emphasis on finding a pathway to a more assertive strain of abolition in the pronounced moderation of Lincoln’s antislavery program. Foner does differentiate his thesis somewhat by both accepting Lincoln’s moderate pragmatism and acknowledging its neglect, before turning to emancipation as an evolutionary narrative that brings Lincoln in line with this broader conclusion. For Striner, Lincoln’s less racially enlightened statements from his battles with Stephen A. Douglas take on a more esoteric character. They were, Striner claims, “just a clever trick by a crafty attorney” who used passages with “alternate meanings” so that what “could seem racist” was really a political ploy to account for a racist electorate (p. 169). Thus readers find a politically strategic Lincoln who “masked his revolutionary impulse,” which was, in reality, always there (p. 175). There are problems with both approaches in that they tend to read more into Lincoln than the historical evidence can consistently sustain. Lincoln did move toward military emancipation as a war necessity and came to support limited black suffrage, although cautiously and only as a tempered suggestion to Louisiana’s military governor. Lincoln actually clung to the idea of compensated emancipation as late as the February 1865 cabinet meeting that followed the Hampton Roads conference earlier that month. Both Foner and Striner also read eventual abandonment into Lincoln’s public silence on colonization after January 1, 1863, although the latest evidence supports a very different story. After the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln specifically refocused this program into closely guarded diplomatic arrangements with foreign governments to avoid the political wrangling and graft that colonization had attracted in its public phase...

Hybrid Warfare and the Changing Character of Conflict

From little green men in Crimea to little blue men in South China Sea, idea that international conflict might be seeing more warfare and threats has animated debate among security and defense establishments in and beyond.1 In fact, term warfare has become bit of staple of Europe's security policy vocabulary. and EU are working on strategy papers aimed at strengthening defensive capabilities and preventing attacks. National governments drafting security and defense review documents make frequent reference to need to address threats. Journalists have adopted term hybrid as shorthand for tac- tics in Ukraine, apparently with assumption that readers already know what this means.NATO's Wales Summit Declaration from 5 September 2014 says Alliance leaders ensure that is able to effectively address specific challenges posed by warfare threats, where wide range of overt and covert military, paramilitary, and civilian measures are employed in highly integrated design. It is essential that Alliance possesses necessary tools and procedures required to deter and respond effectively to warfare threats, and capabilities to reinforce national forces.* 2While Wales declaration put issue of war in specific context of Russia/Ukraine crisis and triggered efforts to prepare to effectively meet such threats, scope of challenge is much wider and core dynamics are often located outside military realm. Earlier work conducted at Allied Command Transformation under label Countering Hybrid Threats acknowledges as much, but it seems as if insights generated at time were not systematically pursued until Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea served as stark reminder.3Why Should We Care?With view to conflict in Ukraine, analysts come to different assessments. Anton Dengg and Michael Schurian argue Ukraine conflict suggests employing means to project power might be an important trend that could shape character of threats to come.4 The British National Security Strategy and its supporting Strategic Defence and Security Review, published at end of November 2015, state that the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014 and continuing support for separatists in eastern Ukraine through use of deniable, tactics and media manipulation have shown Russia's willingness to undermine wider international standards of cooperation in order to secure its perceived interest.5 These strategic documents treat threats both as tier one challenges, which might affect UK directly, and as tier two threats, which would start as attack on an ally. Diego Ruiz Palmer summarizes Russia's aims as achieving politically decisive outcomes with, if possible, no or only limited and overt use of military force, while being prepared to act militarily, with devastating effect at operational level... aim at attaining decisive political advantage short of war.6 The main takeaway is that much of activity related to conflict will take place beneath threshold that most Western observers would consider armed conflict, much less war.Samuel Charap at International Institute for Strategic Studies suggests that Russia's approach would not travel well beyond specific circumstances of conflict in Ukraine. Charap maintains Russia does not have a hybrid-war doctrine that could be effectively deployed against NATO and goes on to warn talking up issue of warfare poses danger in itself: Russian strategists believe that US is willing to risk conducting limited, operation in Russia ... just as strategists believe Russia is willing to risk same on territory of [NATO].7 Can Kasapoglu, in rather nuanced analysis, points out that might not be facing military strategy, but Alliance should realize that new military thinking that brings about shifts at strategic, operational, and tactical levels along with doctrinal order of battle and military strategic culture has emerged in Russia around concept of nonlinear warfare. …

Anti-Militarism in Joseph Heller's Catch-22

يحاول البحث دراسة رواية الكاتب الاميركي جوزيف هيلر التي تحمل عنوان "كاتش 22" (1961). وفي تفحص دقيق لمحتويات الرواية نجد ان تركيزها الرئيس هو المشاعر المناهضة للروح العسكرية. ويقدم البحث شخصيات مختلفة في الرواية ويحاول ان يعكس من خلالها المشاعر المناهضة للروح العسكرية. وان البحث ناقش ايضاً تأثيرات التصرفات الخاصة والاحداث الرئيسة التي حدثت في القوة الجوية الاميركية. وتدور القصة بشكل رئيس حول بعض رجال القوة الجوية الذين كانوا مقاتلين في الحرب العالمية الثانية. وتسلط الاحداث التي يناقشها البحث الضوء على المشاعر التي تحملها المفاهيم المناهضة للروح العسكرية تجاه قضايا الحرب. ان حبكة الرواية متسلسلة وان وصف الاحداث جاء بشكل هزلي كوميدي. وتمثل الشخصيات في الرواية الخصائص المتنوعة التي يمكن ان تستعمل لتطوير حبكة ما مناهضة ايضاً للروح العسكرية.
 ويستند البحث في مجمله على مفاهيم القوات المسلحة التي تستلزم وتبرر ظهور المشاعر المناهضة للروح العسكرية وتطويرها. وان افكر الاشتراكي يعد مفهوماً بارزاً للمشاعر المناهضة للروح العسكرية في الوقت الذي تبدو فيه الروح العسكرية تحاول ان تتكيف مع الرأسمالية. ومن وجهة نظر مناهضة للروح العسكرية، فان الرأسمالية يمكن تشخصيها على انها نوع من البيروقراطية التي تحبط من عزيمة الجنود وتعزز الروح الفردية قي داخل القوات المسلحة. وتتعامل رواية "كاتش 22" مع جميع العوامل العسكرية والعوامل المناهضة للعسكرية والاحداث التي ادت الى المفاهيم نفسها.

About This Issue

About This Issue Thomas Rzeznik, Co-editor The articles in this issue cover a range of topics, but each focuses on the middle decades of the twentieth century. Together, they invite us to think more about the intellectual movements and social activism that animated American Catholicism during that period, recovering stories and developments that are slowly fading from living memory. Our lead essay by William Issel (San Francisco State University) recounts the behind-the-scenes contribution of Auxiliary Bishop Mark J. Hurley in bringing an end to the contentious 1968 student strike at San Francisco State College. In so doing, Issel offers a revisionist account of the strike’s settlement, one which speaks to the prominent role that the church and its leaders played in civic affairs during the post-war period. Carol K. Coburn (Avila University) next recalls the establishment of the Sister Formation Conference in 1954 and assesses its considerable influence on women religious and their communities. She notes how their seemingly “radical” proposals and initiatives helped prepare American sisters for the changes brought about by Vatican II and the secular women’s movement. Our third essay, coming from John Harney (Centre College), explores the development of American Vincentian missionary activity in China between the 1920s and 1950s. In particular, it examines the creation of the Bishop Sheehan Memorial Museum at the Vincentians’ seminary in Perryville, Missouri and the role it played in commemorating the community’s China mission and creating a bond between members home and abroad. Our cover essay by David O’Brien (College of the Holy Cross) offers a brief sketch of the life and legacy of Gordon C. Zahn, a Catholic public intellectual whose writings and personal witness did much to advance church teachings on issues of war and peace. It serves as a call for further research on this important figure, who still lacks a comprehensive biography. Finally, it is our pleasure to congratulate our contributors who received awards from the Catholic Press Association. We were pleased to receive word of several first place awards, including ones for best feature article, best essay, and best review in our category. The honors are well-deserved. [End Page 1] Copyright © 2015 American Catholic Historical Society

Silenced Voices: A Reactionary Streamlined "Henry V" in "The Hollow Crown"

Perhaps no other play in Shakespeare’s oeuvre has been so misunderstood and bowdlerized as Henry V. It is nevertheless one of the most popular of Shakespeare’s plays and has been made into several well-known films. The film versions, however, have seen the play streamlined, with the removal or shortening of so-called episodes or “throw-away” scenes with a consequent misrepresentation of the issues of war, patriotism and nationalism. In addition, the minor characters, so key to reaching an understanding of the play in my reading of the work, are often silenced or neglected. I would like to argue that those elements, repeatedly cut from the film versions, actually provide possible alternative readings of the play which turn it from a flag-waving jingoistic celebration of Britain’s superiority over France into a profound critique of honour, nationalism and religion used to justify military aggression. I would like to use the latest film version, the final segment from the four-part, critically acclaimed The Hollow Crown series, directed by Thea Sharrock in 2012 as a study in point. Although visually spectacular and brilliantly acted, the film once again butchers the play and thereby neglects much of the subversive details and characters. There are three previous film renderings of the play worthy of note. The first was Laurence Olivier’s version from 1944 which he both directed and starred in. The film was unashamedly created as war propaganda and even dedicated to British soldiers fighting in World War II. Deborah Cartmell (96) summarizes the approach succinctly, “Laurence Olivier eliminates half of the play’s lines (most notably, episodes which cast doubt on Henry’s motives and heroism) and produces the unity which critics had found missing.” The most faithful film rendition of the play is the BBC production from 1979 directed by David Giles and starring David Gwillim. Kenneth Branagh’s version from 1989, with Branagh again as director and headliner star, was extremely popular and influential, providing the Northern Irishman with

Elite-level issue dynamics

We analyze elite-level issue dynamics of culture war issues in the US from 1971 to 2008 to compare and contrast three theories of issue change: issue evolution, conflict extension, and ideological polarization. Previous studies often conflate these perspectives by only focusing on increased partisanship as evidence of issue change. We argue that these theories differ on a key aspect of issue conflict: dimensionality, that is, the relationship between political conflict on the issue in question and conflict on other issues. We analyze changes in the dimensionality of roll call voting in the US House on the environment, women’s rights, gun control, abortion, and immigration to present a more comprehensive view of issue dynamics. Our results suggest that these perspectives need further clarification and can complement one another. In particular, considering degrees of an issue evolution is beneficial. Although most issues became more partisan as they were simply absorbed into existing partisan cleavages, which is not consistent with some descriptions of an evolution, the more prominent culture war issues, such as abortion and gun control, showed more distinctive and prominent characteristics.

Global War On Terror a Clear And Present Danger, India’s Stand On It in the United Nations and Other Forums with a South Asian Perspective.

“Terrorism a faceless ideology of nebulous dimensions has wreaked havoc in the contemporary world and has shifted its base from West Asia to South Asia in the recent times; India being a regional power in South Asia is expected to have and done a lot to contain this menace. Way back in 1996, India piloted a draft comprehensive convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) at the General Assembly Committee of the United Nations with the aim to provide an exhaustive legal framework to counter terrorism and her good efforts both regionally and globally continues to this day.” This paper is divided in three parts the first part touches upon the Definition of Terrorism, Globalization of Terrorism in the Contemporary World and the Role played by United Nations in curbing International Terrorism; while the second section deals with India's role in United Nations and other Regional/Global forums on the issue of Terrorism and Global War on Terrorism an American perspective and in the third concluding part we touch upon the counter terror measures taken in the Indian Context and also CCIT tabled by India at the General Assembly Committee of the United Nations.

Tasting a New Home: Food Representations in Italian Neorealist Cinema

This article explores how representations of food contribute to the construction of home as an imagined place and shows that different representations result in multiple meanings of home. As food and the lack thereof constituted urgent issues in post-World War II Italy, directly impacting the welfare of individuals and communities, it is not surprising that Italian Neorealist films frequently featured representations of food production, preparation, and consumption. Food-related images not only contributed to the overall realistic effect but were also meant as a form of participation in the heated cultural and political debates about what both the private homes of Italians and their shared national home would be after 20 years of Fascist regime. By highlighting the food scarcity suffered by the working class and the relative abundance enjoyed by limited segments of the population, Neorealist filmmakers blurred the boundaries between the private and the public, bridging the social tensions in the civic domain with the domestic sphere.

Do not panic: Hawkwind, the Cold War and “the imagination of disaster”

AbstractThe English rock band, Hawkwind, was amongst the founders of the genre known as “space rock”. From the early 1970s to the early 1990s, their work also included references to Cold War issues. An examination of their concert appearances, musical output and printed matter reveals that relevant material often reflected the “imagination of disaster” made famous in an essay by Susan Sontag. As well, there are correlations between the waxing and waning of Cold War tensions, and the presence and absence of such themes in their work. Thus, their work provides an example of how popular music could serve as a barometer of the impact of the Cold War on popular culture.