The Ship of Theseus and the problem of “postwar” answers to contemporary Guatemalan problems
The Ship of Theseus and the problem of “postwar” answers to contemporary Guatemalan problems
This article considers the problems caused by the ubiquitous use of terms such as “postwar” and “postconflict” in the analysis of contemporary Guatemala. The terms feed a historical reductionism which conflates present-day social problems with the violence of the past while also conflating continuity, change, and historical and analytical categories. Drawing upon Plutarch's thought experiment “The Ship of Theseus”, we explore the paradox at the heart of the use of “postwar” and its synonyms and demonstrate the potentially harmful effects connected to the dominance of the term.
405-424
Weston, Gavin
a90a20a4-d9df-4fda-b208-fb34e71d6f54
Djohari, Natalie
90a32268-7e26-45f3-bd47-db9d5a3250ce
28 November 2012
Weston, Gavin
a90a20a4-d9df-4fda-b208-fb34e71d6f54
Djohari, Natalie
90a32268-7e26-45f3-bd47-db9d5a3250ce
Weston, Gavin and Djohari, Natalie
(2012)
The Ship of Theseus and the problem of “postwar” answers to contemporary Guatemalan problems.
History and Anthropology, 23 (4), .
(doi:10.1080/02757206.2013.726717).
Abstract
This article considers the problems caused by the ubiquitous use of terms such as “postwar” and “postconflict” in the analysis of contemporary Guatemala. The terms feed a historical reductionism which conflates present-day social problems with the violence of the past while also conflating continuity, change, and historical and analytical categories. Drawing upon Plutarch's thought experiment “The Ship of Theseus”, we explore the paradox at the heart of the use of “postwar” and its synonyms and demonstrate the potentially harmful effects connected to the dominance of the term.
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Published date: 28 November 2012
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Local EPrints ID: 472014
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/472014
ISSN: 0275-7206
PURE UUID: 4450e556-fa40-4027-89b3-c422a82e0b1e
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Date deposited: 23 Nov 2022 18:00
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 04:16
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Author:
Gavin Weston
Author:
Natalie Djohari
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