POLITICAL MOURNING : identity and responsibility in the wake of tragedy

What leads us to respond politically to the deaths of some citizens and not others? This is one of the critical questions Heather Pool asks in Political Mourning. Born out of her personal experiences with the trauma of 9/11, Pool’s astute book looks at how death becomes political, and how it can mobilize everyday citizens to argue for political change. Pool examines four tragedies in American history—the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, the lynching of Emmett Till, the September 11 attacks, and the Black Lives Matter movement—that offered opportunities to tilt toward justice and democratic inclusion. Some of these opportunities were taken, some were not. However, these watershed moments show, historically, how political identity and political responsibility intersect and how racial identity shapes who is mourned. Political Mourning helps explain why Americans recognize the names of Trayvon Martin and Sandra Bland; activists took those cases public while many similar victims have been ignored by the news media. Concluding with an afterword on the coronavirus, Pool emphasizes the importance of collective responsibility for justice and why we ought to respond to tragedy in ways that are more politically inclusive. Contents Preface Acknowledgments Introduction The Rise of Black Lives Matter Why Do Some Deaths Matter Politically? 1. Making Mourning Political Death and Politics Making Mourning Political Identity and the Borders of Belonging Responsibility A Process Model of Political Mourning Tracing Political Mourning in Politics 2. The Triangle Fire: State Responsibility for White Workers Making Loss Visible: The Strike, the Fire, and a March of Mourning Agency, Collective Responsibility, and Political Change Why Did This Fire Matter? 3. Mourning Emmett Till: Federal Responsibility for Racial Violence Contested Identities: Race and Law Making Loss and Mourning Visible The Failure of Law and Recognition of Collective Responsibility Mobilizing Mourning for Political Change 4. September 11: Sovereign Mourning—Rejecting International Responsibility Contested Identities and American Responses to Terrorism before September 11 Depoliticizing Visibility: Intimate Loss and Public Spectacle Political Actors Taking Their Grief-Wrath Public to Make War Instead of Law Eschewing Law and Responsibility Political Change: The Patriot Act and the War on Terror Conclusion: Sovereign Mourning 5. The Democratic Deficit of All Lives Matter Black Lives Matter as Political Mourning The Democratic Deficit of All Lives Matter The Embodied Democracy of Black Lives Matter Conclusion Conclusion The (Normatively Desirable) Possibilities of Political Mourning The (Normatively Undesirable) Limitations of Political Mourning Unanswered Questions Final Thoughts Afterword: The COVID-19 Pandemic of 2020 Notes Bibliography Index What leads us to respond politically to the deaths of some citizens and not others? This is one of the critical questions Heather Pool asks in __Political Mourning.__Born out of her personal experiences with the trauma of 9/11, Pool’s astute book looks at how death becomes political, and how it can mobilize everyday citizens to argue for political change. Concluding with an afterword on the coronavirus, Pool emphasizes the importance of collective responsibility for justice and why we ought to respond to tragedy in ways that are more politically inclusive. "Political Mourning examines four case studies-the Triangle Fire, Emmett Till's murder, the attacks of September 11th, and the Black Lives Matter movement-to shed light on moments when everyday people died, when their deaths were the basis of calls for political change, and when such a change actually occurred"-- Provided by publisher