Week 5 - Ivan Yang A02

In this week’s readings, I found it super intriguing and alarming just how expansively the military-industrial complex has slowly and discreetly taken over different aspects in our society, from the militarization of different universities to the emergence of the serial killer and different violent crimes. It is extremely disturbing to see how the modern military-industrial complex was not only reinforced by the two major wars that America was a part of after the 50s in Asia, namely the Korean and Vietnam War, and how that has lead to an increase of racially aggravated sexual assault cases towards Asian and Asian American women. It is also disheartening to see the same destructive forces in the different academic institutions that we are a part of actively trying to shut down voices of dissent, ultimately driving every member of the institution to be somehow complicit and supporting the all-encompassing military-industrial complex. Even though both readings dealt with very different consequences that have arisen due to the increase of militarization, there is a common theme of the dehumanization of different minority groups and a perceived increased superiority of the dominant demographic. I hope to be more aware of my position and actions in relation to the military-industrial complex and not further exacerbate this sickening social phenomenon.



Question:
How should scholars, especially interdisciplinary scholars, navigate the increasingly militarized research arena without either compromising the validity of the knowledge they produce or their livelihoods?


References:
Chatterjee, P., Maira, S. (2014). The Imperial University; Race, War, and the Nation-State.
Hamamoto, D. (2003). Empire of Death and the Plague of Civil Violence.
Arkin, William M, and Alexa O'Brien. “The 100 Most Militarized Universities in America.” Vice News, Vice Media LLC, 6 Nov. 2015, news.vice.com/en_us/article/j59g5b/the-most-militarized-universities-in-america-a-vice-news-investigation.