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1. Weary Warriors: Power Knowledge and the Invisible Wounds of Soldiers

Author:
Pamela Moss and Michael J. Prince
Publication Date:
01-2019
Content Type:
Book
Institution:
Berghahn Books
Abstract:
As seen in military documents, medical journals, novels, films, television shows, and memoirs, soldiers’ invisible wounds are not innate cracks in individual psyches that break under the stress of war. Instead, the generation of weary warriors is caught up in wider social and political networks and institutions—families, activist groups, government bureaucracies, welfare state programs—mediated through a military hierarchy, psychiatry rooted in mind-body sciences, and various cultural constructs of masculinity. This book offers a history of military psychiatry from the American Civil War to the latest Afghanistan conflict. The authors trace the effects of power and knowledge in relation to the emotional and psychological trauma that shapes soldiers’ bodies, minds, and souls, developing an extensive account of the emergence, diagnosis, and treatment of soldiers’ invisible wounds.
Topic:
Military Affairs, Psychology, Trauma, Masculinity, and PTSD
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, Europe, Middle East, and Vietnam

2. National Independence versus Societal Trauma: Can a Nation Enslaved by its Past be Independent?

Author:
Magda Stroniska
Publication Date:
01-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Warsaw East European Review (WEER)
Institution:
Centre for East European Studies, University of Warsaw
Abstract:
Human history is a mixture of positive developments and setbacks, many of them of tragic proportions. Some historical events may have a dramatic and long-lasting im- pact on large groups of people. Sometimes entire nations have suffered the effects of what is referred to as societal, historical, collective or cultural trauma. While such historical traumas have been acknowledged in literature, little is usually done to assist societies or groups that have been affected in dealing, in practical terms, with various symptoms of post-traumatic psychological issues that affect individual members of the group, who, in turn, determine the behaviour of the group as a whole. This paper suggests that survivors of societal traumas, just like people who go through personal tragedies, need help in order to overcome the effects of their experience or face the risk of repeating the cycle of violence, often becoming the perpe- trators themselves. While the focus of this paper is on Polish historical traumas and how they influence the choices made by Polish society today, some observations may be applicable to post-traumatic societal behaviours in general.
Topic:
Nationalism, Trauma, Violence, and Independence
Political Geography:
Europe, Eastern Europe, and Poland