Control or Repression: Contrasting a Prisoner of War Camp and a Work Camp from World War Two
There are clear signs of control and repression in the architecture and layout of most internment camps, but internment camps were not the only form of institutional accommodation present in the United Kingdom during the Second World War. Comparison of a prisoner of war camp and a forestry work camp, both in Scotland, reveals similarities and differences between the two. The similarities highlight issues of control and authority, while the differences reveal issues of repression and punishment. The comparison also reveals much about official mind-set in the United Kingdom during the Second World War.
Archaeology of State Terrorism: Exploring the Territorial Strategies of Clandestine Repression in Argentina (1976–1983)
In Latin America, the Archaeology of the Contemporary Past focuses on investigation of the massive human rights violations perpetrated by the authoritarian regimes that ruled the countries in this region between 1960s and 1980s. These military governments instituted terror regimes in order to achieve a de-politicization of civil society through fear. To ensure their success, they displayed the most extreme forms of repression, including imprisonment, forced exile, murder and the disappearance of thousands of political opponents. This paper examines the regional particularities of the clandestine repression in Argentina, specifically in the military jurisdiction known as Area 211, which was subordinated to the II Defense Zone Command. Taking an archaeological and territorial approach, I applied the analysis tools provided by Geographic Information Systems (GIS), combining historical and spatial information to investigate the modes by which repressive systems administered the bodies of their victims.RésuméL’archéologie du passé contemporain, en Amérique latine, porte principalement sur des recherches concernant les violations massives des droits de l’Homme perpétrées par les régimes autoritaires qui ont gouverné les pays de cette région entre les années 1960 et 1980. Ces gouvernements militaires avaient institué des régimes de terreur afin de parvenir à une dépolitisation de la société civile par la peur. Pour garantir leur réussite, ils ont démontré les formes de répression les plus extrêmes, et notamment l’emprisonnement, l’exil forcé, l’assassinat et la disparition de milliers d’opposants politiques. Cet article étudie les particularités régionales de la répression clandestine en Argentine, plus précisément dans la juridiction militaire appelée zone 211, qui était subordonnée au deuxième Commandement de la zone de défense. Adoptant une approche archéologique et territoriale, j’ai employé les outils d’analyse fournis par le système d’information géographique (SIG) en association avec des informations historiques et spatiales afin d’étudier les modes par lesquels les systèmes répressifs ont administré les corps de leurs victimes.ResumenEn Latinoamérica, la Arqueología del Pasado Contemporáneo se centra en la investigación de las masivas violaciones de los derechos humanos perpetradas por los regímenes autoritarios que rigieron los países de esta región entre los años 1960 y 1980. Estos gobiernos militares instituyeron regímenes de terror con el fin de lograr una despolitización de la sociedad civil mediante el miedo. Para asegurar su éxito, desplegaron las formas más extremas de represión, incluidas la prisión, el exilio forzado, el asesinato y la desaparición de miles de opositores políticos. El presente documento examina las particularidades regionales de la represión clandestina en Argentina, específicamente en la jurisdicción militar conocida como Área 211, que estaba subordinada al IIº Mando de la Zona de Defensa. Utilizando un enfoque arqueológico y territorial, he aplicado las herramientas de análisis proporcionadas por los Sistemas de Información Geográfica (SIG/GIS), conjugando información histórica y espacial, para investigar los modos mediante los cuales el régimen represivo administró los cuerpos de sus víctimas.
Mutiny Echoes: India, Britons, and Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities
This essay asks what, if any, import the Indian ““Mutiny”” of 1857 had on A Tale of Two Cities (1859), Charles Dickens�s fictionalized account of the French Revolution. Begun shortly after the Indian uprising started, Dickens�s historical novel appears studiously to avoid any mention of events on the Indian subcontinent, even though these events preoccupied and enraged the author. Few scholars have attended to the question of A Tale of Two Cities and the ““Mutiny,”” but when they have, scholars have looked for analogies between India and Dickens�s account of the French Revolution. In this essay, by contrast, I examine A Tale of Two Cities in a larger context——of Britons9 response to the Uprising, of Dickens9s short stories and essays in Household Words in the years before the ““Mutiny”” and immediately after, of Dickens9s disenchantment with aspects of British culture, and of his need to articulate a national identity grounded in action. I argue that the events in India were the match that ignited Dickens9s already established midcentury interests in national identity, nobility, and masculine heroism. I do not wish to suggest that A Tale of Two Cities is an Indian ““Mutiny”” novel, but rather that it is a novel about the ““Making of Britons,”” an important endeavor for an author who was intensely dissatisfied with the Britain that he saw around him.