The Cultural Sociology of Political Assassination : From MLK and RFK to Fortuyn and Van Gogh

Political Assassinations Are Always Shocking And Traumatic; Sometimes However They Lead To A Cultural Trauma, That Is, A Broad Public Debate About The Foundations Of Collective Identity. The Theory Of Cultural Trauma Is Applied In This Book To Six Political Assassinations, Martin Luther King, Jr. And Robert Kennedy In The United States, Olof Palme And Anna Lindh In Sweden And Pim Fortuyn And Theo Van Gogh In The Netherlands. Only In The Swedish Case Did A Cultural Trauma Not Emerge, This Book Explains Why It Did Not And Why It Did In The Case Of The United States And The Netherlands. The Primal Scene -- Political Assassination, Trauma, And Narration -- Remembering The Sixties : The Assassinations Of Martin Luther King, Jr. And Robert Kennedy -- The End Of Innocence : The Murders Of Olof Palme And Anna Lindh -- The End Of Tolerance : The Murders Of Pim Fortuyn And Theo Van Gogh -- Conclusion. Ron Eyerman. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Cover......Page 1 Half-Title......Page 2 Title......Page 4 Copyright......Page 5 Contents......Page 8 Series Editors’ Foreword......Page 10 Acknowledgments......Page 12 Prologue......Page 14 1 The Primal Scene......Page 18 2 Political Assassination, Trauma, and Narration......Page 26 3 Remembering the 1960s: The Assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy......Page 50 4 The End of Innocence: The Murders of Olof Palme and Anna Lindh......Page 92 5 The End of Tolerance: The Murders of Pim Fortuyn and Theo van Gogh......Page 128 6 Conclusion......Page 162 Notes......Page 188 References......Page 198 Index......Page 204 Developing the theory of cultural trauma in regard to the shattering potential effects of political assassinations, Eyerman examines political and social life in three different national contexts: Martin Luther King, Bobby Kennedy, and Harvey Milk in the U.S.; Theo Van Gogh in the Netherlands; and Olof Palme and Anna Lindh in Sweden