A Different Kind of War Story (The Ethnography of Political Violence) [Paperback]

Carolyn Nordstrom (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0812216210 | ISBN-13: 978-0812216219 | Publication Date: October 14, 1997

A Different Kind of War Story takes us to the frontlines of one of the most brutal wars in recent history. The setting is Mozambique during the fifteen-year war of terror that took a million lives—mostly civilian—and completely destroyed homes, crops, hospitals, schools, and even access to water. The characters are the soldiers who fought it, the thieves and opportunists who profited from it, and the ordinary people whose lives were shattered by it and from whose ranks emerged the heroes and healers who created peace.

Combining contemporary theory and innovative methodology, Nordstrom explores the nature and culture of terror warfare and raises thought-provoking questions about state power, civilian resistance, and the politics of identity. She compares the conflict in Mozambique with similar conflicts and offers a new way of looking at political violence, showing that just as violence is learned, it can be unlearned.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A deeply researched study into the nature of political violence."—Journal of Contemporary African Studies

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press (October 14, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812216210
• ISBN-13: 978-0812216219
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #294,609 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #1 in Books > History > Africa > Mozambique
  • #66 in Books > History > Africa > Central Africa

More About the Author

Carolyn Nordstrom is a Professor of Anthropology at the University of Notre Dame. She studies wars, the illegal drug trade, gender relationships, and war profiteering. Her research has made her an eyewitness and scholar of worldwide urban and rural battlefields as well as of the shadowy worlds of diamonds, drugs, arms and smuggling. In addition to her teaching and lecturing, she was recently awarded John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur and John Simon Guggenheim Fellowships and has written dozens of articles, and several books. Having struggled for years to fit the world's roiling multiplex realities into an academic universe too small to accommodate them, she is currently writing a book challenging the academy to update its theoretical foundations for the twenty-first century.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Most difficult book I have ever read, November 11, 2006

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teddius maximus "tribe_monki" - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Different Kind of War Story (The Ethnography of Political Violence) (Paperback)

I have never been so affected by a book than this. I had to heal myself after reading it. Years after, I write this review while battling the gruesome images described in this account of violence. Chapter after chapter I was tempted to put it down, away, bury it, whatever as it is truly difficult to stomach. Yet in the end, the hope of humanity is triumphantly related in this harrowing book. A master piece of journalism.