Dancing at Armageddon: Survivalism and Chaos in Modern Times [Hardcover]

Richard G. Mitchell Jr. (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0226532445 | ISBN-13: 978-0226532448 | Publication Date: December 1, 2001 | Edition: 1

Winner of the Charles H. Cooley Award from the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction.

Richard G. Mitchell Jr. spent more than a dozen years among survivalists at public conferences, private meetings, and clandestine training camps across America. He takes us inside a compelling, hidden world more connected to the chaos of modern life many of us experience than the label "separatist" suggests. In survivalism Mitchell found a profound and meaningful critique of contemporary industrial society, a subculture in which the real evil is not repressive government but the far more insidious influence of a "Planet Microsoft" mentality with its abundance of empty choices. Survivalists, Mitchell shows us, are seeking resistance, not struggling against it; they are looking for ways to define themselves and test their talents in a society that is becoming devitalized and formless.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The survivalist movement gets a partial makeover in this revisionist study of America's backwoods doomsayers. Sociologist Mitchell begins with a simple thesis: survivalists are not necessarily crazy or stupid. Rather, he writes, survivalism is a creative response to the stresses of modernity. Its adherents practice a kind of "radical skepticism" about our cultural and economic structures, which leads them to predict civilization's collapse (through race war, economic ruin, plague, nuclear holocaust, etc.). The more notorious proclivities of survivalists collecting guns, building bunkers and the like are merely sensible responses to these dire forecasts, which may have seemed far-fetched before September 11. Mitchell spent years among his subjects, even participating in some "guerrilla" training himself (a farcical weekend in the woods with men too chubby to march very long and too drowsy to fight very hard). Survivalists can live in nice suburbs; they can even make prudent investments like buying land to use as a tax shelter and, "when needed, a fallout shelter." In fact, says Mitchell, sometimes survivalist cadres resemble nothing so much as eccentric hobby groups. But there is also a darker side to the movement, chronicled by Mitchell's visits to Idaho's Aryan Nations compound and other militant survivalist centers around the country. In these places, survivalism is inextricably tied to resentment, racism and hate. The Aryan Nations material is well worn, but the rest of Mitchell's account is provocative and surprising. His book is an important attempt to clarify and contextualize a movement that thrives on mainstream society's fringes.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Mitchell (sociology, Oregon State Univ.) provides one of the first, and certainly one of the most readable, looks at the survivalist movement, summing up many years of experience as a participant-observer. While adherents are often caricatured as dispossessed, paranoid loners, Mitchell reveals them to be not only stereotypical Rambo wannabes but also businessmen, doctors, and other professionals who are looking for a little adventure in our increasingly antiseptic, detached culture. Mitchell explores various sociological and psychological theories about participation in the survivalist movement and discovers that it is about more than an outsider's need to get power. Rather, the movement allows people often marginalized by society to exercise their creativity and gain success: "survivalism is no practical readiness for uncertainties, but a celebration of imagination, an encompassing, compelling game of make-believe." This insightful study is highly recommended for both academic and public libraries. Mark Bay, Cumberland Coll. Lib., Williamsburg, KY
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 275 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press; 1 edition (December 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226532445
• ISBN-13: 978-0226532448
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,751,940 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific Book!, December 21, 2001

By 

Adele Kubein (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dancing at Armageddon: Survivalism and Chaos in Modern Times (Hardcover)

A fascinating, beautifully written warning of what American social life is and might become-frightening and encouraging. Read this book to the last page! It is almost a novel in places. As the chapters unfold, people and events that seem obvious in the beginning are revealed to be both subtle and complex, at once hilarious, poignant and terrifying. I especially enjoyed the mixture of detailed stories with a sociological critique I found convincing and surprising. Survivalism is not all wrong-headed nonsense for marginal losers. I think many of us may long to be survivalists in our own ways. This is a book of interest to everyone who wonders about our future and the possibilities for evil and good in our society and ourselves. It made me laugh and cry and think. Adele Kubein, San Francisco.

31 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not at all what I was expecting, February 14, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Dancing at Armageddon: Survivalism and Chaos in Modern Times (Hardcover)

I stumbled upon this book purely by chance but being interested in the subject I decided to give it a try. Based on the title and the summary on the cover I was expecting a serious, in-depth look at the concept of survivalism. What I found was disappointing.

The author spent several years on the inside of what he considers the survivalist movement interviewing and observing what he considers to be epitome of the survivalist mentality. As with most newcomers to the subject of survivalism the author seems to have bought into the stereotype of rubes in camouflage, racists and conspiracy theorists. He spent time with some pseudo militia types who ludicrously played army in the woods, visited a white supremacist camp in Idaho and attended a survival Expo full of hucksters and opportunists, attended some off the wall racist church and spent time with some folks who generally have some serious issues.

Those types are certainly out there but he makes no serious effort that I could discern to objectively define survivalism outside of the boundaries of his very narrow group of subjects. He did not mention the Mormons who have a long tradition of organization and preparedness skills (I am not Mormon) or make any attempt to examine the large number of people who embrace the concepts of survivalism but do not associate with the "lunatic fringe" that are always conveniently stamped as the poster child representatives of the survival mindset. His approach seemed to me to be like an alien coming to earth to study the human animal but spending all of his time in a lunatic asylum. In this example how accurate could the final report be by examining only the deranged and disturbed members of the species?

The book seemed to me to be hazy and unfocused. The few lucid points that were made had to be gleaned from a mass of psycho babble and what seemed to me to be a loosely veiled contempt for the people involved and the subject matter as a whole. It reminded me of a saying I once heard that goes, "Ph.D.s know a lot about very little". The author is not a Ph.D. (yet) but he often writes in a academically dry, pedantic style that just doesn't seem to say anything useful. I found myself skimming over paragraphs where he was going on and on about how pitiful these people's lives were hoping to find something about survivalism.

The author does make some valid points about the subcultures that are associated with survivalism but his focus seemed to be more on how warped these groups' core beliefs were and less about what they had to do with survivalism. Just because somebody is a racist or believes that the New World Order is coming does not invalidate the general concept of being prepared for hardship. He also occasionally comes through with what I felt were valid criticisms of many people involved in survivalism like the fact that "survivalists" focus too much on guns, gadgets and minutia and seem to have no plausible focus on what they are planning to survive, but I really had to work hard to filter through the static to get these points.

In the end it seems to me to be a sad waste of several years of the author's life (and a few hours of my time). I would summarize by paraphrasing the author out of context. In his opinion of the survival Expo he visited he spoke of it as "...commodified caricature, subject without substance, context without content..." That, unfortunately, sums up what I felt about this book. If you are seriously interested in survivalism you would probably be wise to pass this one up because, in my opinion anyway, it is seriously flawed, disappointingly biased and has very little to do with survivalism.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Things ain't what they seem to be..., January 10, 2002

By 

Christopher Schmitt (Riverside, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dancing at Armageddon: Survivalism and Chaos in Modern Times (Hardcover)

Dancing at Armageddon: Survivalism and Chaos in Modern Times
Richard G. Mitchell

Things ain't what they seem to be. The world turns, the media spins, and the author yarns a tale 20 years in the making. Mitchell jimmies open the bomb shelter for a glimpse of its denizens- survivalists who foresee trouble, make dark warnings, and prepare. Foreboding events call for a "creative transcendence of calamitous cultural change," and lead to surprising solutions. Better bury your house, stockpile your pins, and keep your Charmin dry. The truth is as close as your local coffee shop and flea market. On the topic of survivalists, not all readers who wonder are lost, but many are mistaken. Be prepared. You'll find yourself yanked from an armchair into pup tents, pawnshops, and the proper use of the garrote.

Mitchell shares his fears transparently, his gaffes candidly, and the chocolate cake story as with a close friend; seamlessly weaving narrative, observation, and analysis. Don't confuse good reading with poor sociology. The insights and methodology sneak home with you like campfire smoke after a weekend in the woods. Learn about survivalism from a man who teaches survival skills himself; it's a tonic for pulp media depictions. Fear whom you will, but first meet the people who are dancing at Armageddon.

Reviewed by:
Christopher Schmitt