Virtual War and Magical Death - 9780822354352

Virtual War and Magical DeathTechnologies and Imaginaries for Terror and Killing\nAuthor(s): Neil L. Whitehead, Sverker Finnstrm\nFormat: Hardback\nPublisher: Duke University Press, United States\nImprint: Duke University Press\nISBN-13: 9780822354352, 978-0822354352\nSynopsis\nVirtual War and Magical Death is a provocative examination of the relations between anthropology and contemporary global war. Several arguments unite the collected essays, which are based on ethnographic research in varied locations, including Guatemala, Uganda, and Tanzania, as well as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, and the United States. Foremost is the contention that modern high-tech warfare-as it is practiced and represented by the military, the media, and civilians-is analogous to rituals of magic and sorcery. Technologies of \""virtual warfare,\"" such as high-altitude bombing, remote drone attacks, night-vision goggles, and even music videoes and computer games that simulate battle, reproduce the imaginatid