Citizen Warriors: Paramilitary Cultures in U.S. History since 1850 - Detailseite

In historical scholarship, the paramilitary is often confined to European or postcolonial contexts, where it is traditionally used to describe the rise of fascist militias or the emergence of anticolonial guerilla forces. Yet a closer look reveals that armed citizen groups engaging in war-like mobilization and violence have a long tradition in U.S. history as well. This seminar deploys the concept of “paramilitary cultures” to examine the formation, ideologies, and practices of various non-state militarized movements in U.S. society since the mid-nineteenth century. We will compare and contrast the recruitment techniques, social locations, gender constructions, racial politics, and imagined communities of organizations as diverse as the Ku Klux Klan, the American Legion, the Boys Scouts, and the Black Panthers. We will study their relationship to state power and the degree to which they conflated civilian and military spheres. In doing so, we will address the larger question whether the paramilitary is an aberration of American democracy or a logical corollary to it. This seminar will be taught in English. A basic knowledge of U.S. history is recommended but not required.