A MILITARIZED ISLAND: EVERYDAY (IN)SECURITIES IN OKINAWA
| dc.contributor.advisor | Mostafanezhad, Mary | |
| dc.contributor.author | Kohatsu, Tatsuki | |
| dc.contributor.department | Geography | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2021-07-29T23:17:09Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2021-07-29T23:17:09Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2021 | |
| dc.description.degree | M.A. | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10125/75939 | |
| dc.subject | Geography | |
| dc.subject | Geopolitics | |
| dc.subject | Militarism | |
| dc.subject | Okinawa | |
| dc.subject | Security | |
| dc.title | A MILITARIZED ISLAND: EVERYDAY (IN)SECURITIES IN OKINAWA | |
| dc.type | Thesis | |
| dcterms.abstract | Islands are often represented as remote and exotic paradise destinations in popular imaginaries. Simultaneously, states frequently render island spaces as geo-strategic sites of security and state-building. However, these state-centric narratives of security obscure island lives and environments by overshadowing the everyday experiences of residents. Scholars of feminist geopolitics challenge geopolitical narratives of state-centric security through detailed investigations of how security is differently enacted and experienced at a range of scales. While this scholarship scrutinizes various forms of violence and oppression that are unevenly inflicted upon some bodies, analysis tends to focus on security as a means of state control and surveillance. I draw on these debates in political geography and feminist geopolitics to critically engage with the concept and experience of security beyond state control. I argue that in Okinawa, residents’ everyday experiences of security are mediated by state narratives of securitization that are enrolled in the justification of the large U.S. military presence on the island. I focus on how fishers, civilian base workers, and activists participate in what are widely simplified as either ‘pro’ or ‘anti’-military narratives. These narratives, I further argue, reflect long-held tensions between residents and the militarization of Okinawa. By ethnographically examining people’s lived experiences, this thesis details the complexities of security on a militarized island and demonstrates how attention to these narratives can broaden our understanding of security beyond the state. Further, through an ethnographically grounded analysis of the historical and cultural particularities of island lives, this thesis responds to political geographers’ emerging calls for critical attention to people’s lived experiences. In doing so, this thesis challenges dominant geopolitical narratives that render the lives of islanders invisible. It also offers a deepened understanding of the complex everyday negotiations of people who continue to live under conditions of colonialism and militarization in ways that may forge inter-island solidarities. | |
| dcterms.extent | 125 pages | |
| dcterms.language | en | |
| dcterms.publisher | University of Hawai'i at Manoa | |
| dcterms.rights | All UHM dissertations and theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission from the copyright owner. | |
| dcterms.type | Text | |
| local.identifier.alturi | http://dissertations.umi.com/hawii:11074 |
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