Pop Culture Goes to War

Pop Culture Goes to War, by Geoff Martin and Erin Steuter, explores the persistence of and opposition to militarism in American life. It provides a comprehensive overview of the role of toys, video games, music, television and movies in supporting contemporary militarism. Resistance to militarism is highlighted through the traditional mediums of music and movies, and increasingly through the arts, 'culture jamming,' and the satire of The Daily Show, The Onion, The Simpsons, The Colbert Report, and South Park.

Geoff Martin is assistant professor of continuous learning and political science at Mount Allison University. Erin Steuter is professor of sociology at Mount Allison University.

This book provides an essential guide for the public to identify and deconstruct the pro-war messages lurking in much of commercial popular culture, including myths complicit with President Obama's sugar-coated militarism. Readers then learn how this menace to a potentially peaceful America can be subverted and reclaimed by and for a savvy public. Commendably, the authors' clearly written text avoids jargon making their crucial analysis available to a broad audience. -- Thomas Conroy, co-editor Constructing America's War Culture: Iraq, Media, and the War at Home One of the most impressive aspects of Pop Culture Goes to War is the extent to which the topics and arguments are well-documented, usually with sources drawn from a variety of disciplines and points of view. A work of this sort is much needed at a time when US military power, domestic and global, is expanding-at a time when the political and popular cultures are being shaped increasingly by military priorities and agendas. -- Carl E. Boggs, National University at Los Angeles Geoff Martin and Erin Steuter's Pop Culture Goes to War presents a compelling overview of popular culture's responses to the George W. Bush-led 'war on terror.' I found it readable, informative, and insightful, and I highly recommend it as a textbook or supplemental text for courses in sociology, history, and popular culture. -- Tom Pollard, author of Sex and Violence: The Hollywood Censorship Wars Martin (Mount Allison Univ.) and Steuter (sociology, Mount Allison Univ.) argue that militarism plagues US society and is "reinforced by our popular culture; a military-industrial-entertainment culture that sells war through our games and leisure activities." The book begins with a discussion of the costs of war and a broad overview of the claims associated with the manufacturing consent for war perspective. There are chapters on war toys, movies, the entertainment industry more generally, and the everyday expressions of militarism and patriotism that, according to the authors, shape US culture today...Finally, Martin and Steuter call for a struggle against US militarism. Summing Up: Recommended. CHOICE