
Military Power and Popular Protest
The U.S. Navy in Vieques, Puerto Rico
Katherine T. McCaffrey(Author)
Rutgers University Press
Published on 18. June 2002
Book
Paperback/Softback
240 pages
978-0-8135-3091-8 (ISBN)
Description
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 armys 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 individuals and 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 mobilizationled by fishermenthat began in the 1970s; how the navy promised to improve the lives of the island residentsand failed; and the present-day emergence of a revitalized political activism that has effectively challenged naval hegemony.
The case of Vieques brings to the fore a major concern within U.S. foreign policy that extends well beyond Puerto Rico: military bases overseas act as lightning rods for anti-American sentiment, thus threatening this countrys image and interests abroad. By analyzing this particular, conflicted relationship, the book also explores important lessons about colonialism and postcolonialism and the relationship of the United States to the countries in which it maintains military bases.
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 mobilizationled by fishermenthat began in the 1970s; how the navy promised to improve the lives of the island residentsand failed; and the present-day emergence of a revitalized political activism that has effectively challenged naval hegemony.
The case of Vieques brings to the fore a major concern within U.S. foreign policy that extends well beyond Puerto Rico: military bases overseas act as lightning rods for anti-American sentiment, thus threatening this countrys image and interests abroad. By analyzing this particular, conflicted relationship, the book also explores important lessons about colonialism and postcolonialism and the relationship of the United States to the countries in which it maintains military bases.
Reviews / Votes
McCaffrey's outstanding analysis movingly narrates this community's longstanding anguish and accurately situates the Vieques movement in the larger context of U.S. military policy in the Caribbean and Puerto Rico's unresolved status quandary. Those interested in understanding the Vieques crisis will find Military Power and Popular Protest an indispensable work. - Amflcar Antonio Barreto (author of Vieques, the Navy, and Puerto Rican Politics)More details
Edition
None edition
Language
English
Place of publication
New Brunswick NJ
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Illustrations
12 b&w illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 17 mm
Weight
408 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8135-3091-8 (9780813530918)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Previous edition

Book
06/2002
Rutgers University Press
€90.57
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Person
KATHERINE T. MCCAFFREY is an assistant professor of anthropology at Montclair State University, New Jersey.
Content
Preface
Acknowledgments
Acronyms and Spanish Terms
Introduction
One. A Strategic Colony on the Margins of the Empire
Two. Cultural Identity of Vieques
Three. The Fishermen's War
Four. We Are a Species in Danger of Extinction: The Aftermath of the Fishermen's Crusade
Five. Organizing for Change
Six. From Pescadores to Rescatores: The Resurgence and Transformation of Struggle
Seven. The Battle of Vieques
Notes
References
Index
Acknowledgments
Acronyms and Spanish Terms
Introduction
One. A Strategic Colony on the Margins of the Empire
Two. Cultural Identity of Vieques
Three. The Fishermen's War
Four. We Are a Species in Danger of Extinction: The Aftermath of the Fishermen's Crusade
Five. Organizing for Change
Six. From Pescadores to Rescatores: The Resurgence and Transformation of Struggle
Seven. The Battle of Vieques
Notes
References
Index