The Securitization of Memorial Space

Rhetoric and Public Memory

Nicholas S. Paliewicz, Marouf Hasian

• Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9781496215550
• eBook ISBN: 9781496217301
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Social Philosophy
• Index: Social Sciences

The Securitization of Memorial Space argues that the National September 11 Memorial and Memorial Museum is a securitized site of memory—what Foucault called a dispositif —that polices visitors and publics to remember trauma, darkness, and victimage in ways that perpetuate the "necessity" of the Global War on Terrorism. Contributing to studies in public memory, rhetoric and argumentation, and critical security studies, Nicholas S. Paliewicz and Marouf Hasian Jr. show how various human and nonhuman actors participated in complicated argumentative formations that have mobilized political, performative, and militaristic practices of anti-terroristic violence in other parts of the world. While there were times that certain argumentative stakeholders—such as local New Yorkers—questioned the necessity of securitizing this site of memory, agentic factions including the families of those who died on 9/11, public supporters, security agents, and politicians created an ideologically oriented security assemblage that remembers 9/11 through counter-terroristic performances at Ground Zero. In chronological order from the 2001 "dustbowl" to the present popularization of 9/11 memories, the authors present seven chapters of rich rhetorical analysis that show how the National September 11 Memorial and Memorial Museum perpetuates grief, uncertainty, and angst that affects public memory in multidirectional ways.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• 1. The Ambiguities and Insecurities of Ground Zero Space
• 2. Rebuilding Ground Zero
• 3. Policing Memory with Moral Authority
• 4. Melancholic Commemoration and “Policing” at the National September 11 Memorial, 2011–2014
• 5. Holocaust Memories and Counterterrorist Practices at Ground Zero
• Conclusion
• Source Acknowledgments
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index
• About Nicholas S. Paliewicz
• About Marouf Hasian Jr.