Overview

Inspired in part by his lawsuit against the US Secretary of Defense while serving as an active duty military officer, in this book James Skelly explores and critiques the dominant conceptual bases for self and identity. Arguing that our use of language in the construction of identities is unwitting, unreflective, and has engendered horrific consequences for tens of millions of human beings, Skelly shows that we need to overcome sectarian modes of thinking and engage in much deeper forms of solidarity with others. This book offers not only an academic reflection on the concept of identity but one that delves into the nature of the self and identity by drawing on Skelly's concrete experience of attempting to present a self-identity opposed to war in the face of the political, psychological, religious, and legal arguments put forth in a year-long battle by the United States government to prove that he did not qualify as a conscientious objector. One consequence is that Skelly argues that in order to create a new and more pacific human sensibility we must help ourselves and others to gain sovereignty over our social worlds and the definition of 'who we are'. This will necessitate a broad educational project that arms individuals with the tools necessary to insure that the definitions and categorizations to which we are subject in the construction of traditional notions of 'identity' can be resisted and ultimately transcended.

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9783838209883

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Reviews

This is a rich and thoughtful assembly of reflections on the author's experiences as a questioning younger person and his reach into a remarkable array of relevant literature for answers. The trip Skelly takes us on is like sailing from one compelling island to another in an effort to find just the right place to anchor. The result is a wonderful journey into the meaning of words, the meaning of life, and the meaning of meaning. A rare and special gathering of sanity. -Kai Erikson, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor Emeritus of Sociology and American Studies, Yale University, and author of Wayward Puritans, Everything in its Path, and A New Species of Trouble, among others.

“This is a rich and thoughtful assembly of reflections on the author's experiences as a questioning younger person and his reach into a remarkable array of relevant literature for answers. The trip Skelly takes us on is like sailing from one compelling island to another in an effort to find just the right place to anchor. The result is a wonderful journey into the meaning of words, the meaning of life, and the meaning of meaning. A rare and special gathering of sanity.” —Kai Erikson, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor Emeritus of Sociology and American Studies, Yale University, and author of Wayward Puritans, Everything in its Path, and A New Species of Trouble, among others.

"""This is a rich and thoughtful assembly of reflections on the author's experiences as a questioning younger person and his reach into a remarkable array of relevant literature for answers. The trip Skelly takes us on is like sailing from one compelling island to another in an effort to find just the right place to anchor. The result is a wonderful journey into the meaning of words, the meaning of life, and the meaning of meaning. A rare and special gathering of sanity."" -Kai Erikson, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor Emeritus of Sociology and American Studies, Yale University, and author of Wayward Puritans, Everything in its Path, and A New Species of Trouble, among others."

Author Information

Dr. James M. Skelly is Director of the Centre on Critical Thinking, which he founded, and a faculty member at the Institute for Social and European Studies in Köszeg, Hungary, where he recently received a New Central Europe 2 Fellowship for research on “Constructing European Identity and Citizenship” from the University of Pannonia. His work builds on his previous research as a TAMOP Fellow in 2012 for research on a new conceptual basis for identity. He served as the Director of the Baker Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies and Professor of Peace Studies at Juniata College in Pennsylvania from 2012 to 2015. As well as serving as Director, he was a Senior Fellow of the Institute from 2000 to 2015, and Distinguished Visiting Professor of Peace Studies between 2000 and 2005. Prior to his return to direct the Baker Institute, he was Visiting Professor of Peace Studies at the Magee Campus of the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland from 2007 to 2012. His academic career also includes service as Associate Director of the University of California's Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation; New York University's Center for War, Peace and the News Media; the Irish Peace Institute at the University of Limerick. He has also been professionally active as: a founder of the Peace Studies Association; Chair of the American Sociological Association's Section on Peace and War; a Fellow of the Inter-University Seminar on Armed Forces and Society; Senior Fellow at the Center for European Studies in Budapest; a Patron of the AEGEE-Europe project “Beyond Europe“; a member of the International Advisory Board of the Institute for Global and European Integration Studies at Corvinus University in Budapest; and in NAFSA-Association of International Educators, where he was Chair of the Peace and Justice Special Interest Group. He has held teaching posts and lectured in countries throughout the world, including China, Japan, Russia, the United States, and across Europe. In addition, he was a Visiting Scholar at the Institute of International Studies of the University of California, Berkeley, with sponsorship from the MacArthur Foundation for research on the transformation of American political culture during the Cold War. His research and teaching interests continue to be rooted in the sociology of knowledge and focus on reality construction related to identity, nationalism, and other issues related to peace and conflict. As a young U.S. military officer, his refusal to serve in Vietnam led to his federal law suit, Skelly v. Laird, against the United States Secretary of Defense which helped to redefine the criteria for in-service conscientious objection. During this period, he worked actively against the war in South East Asia through several groups which he helped to found including the Concerned Officers' Movement. Following his honorable discharge, he worked with Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, and other entertainment industry figures, as the advance man and political coordinator for the “FTA“ show which was designed to encourage U.S. soldiers and sailors to freely express their opposition to continuation of the war in South East Asia. He subsequently served in Washington as Executive Director of The G.I. Office, Inc., an organization that had been established to support soldiers, and then as a Special Assistant to the U.S. Senator from California, John Tunney.

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