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The Battle For Vieques' Future, Katherine Mccaffrey
The Battle For Vieques' Future, Katherine Mccaffrey
Department of Anthropology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works
This article analyzes power dynamics in Vieques, Puerto Rico in the immediate aftermath of the U.S. Navy's closure of its five fire range on the island. The essay examines several aspects of Vieques' continuing struggle in a post-Navy world. It considers residents' hopes and views of different kinds of development; the ramifications of former Navy-occupied land being classified as "environmentally protected"; and finally, potential organizing principles for directing Vieques' development, looking at the challenges and opportunities facing activists. The essay considers how cultural nationalism not only offers potential building blocks for collective action and opposition to privatization, but an egalitarian …
Social Struggle Against The U.S. Navy In Vieques, Puerto Rico: Two Movements In History, Katherine Mccaffrey
Social Struggle Against The U.S. Navy In Vieques, Puerto Rico: Two Movements In History, Katherine Mccaffrey
Department of Anthropology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works
The grassroots struggle against the U.S. Navy in Vieques transcended highly divisive colonial politics to build unprecedented political solidarity in Puerto Rico. The success of the recent Vieques movement in shutting down a U.S. Navy live-fire training facility contrasts with the experience of an earlier grassroots struggle in the 1970s. Whereas cold-war politics impeded the earlier activists from forging the alliances and formulating the vision that might advance their cause, a changed political context in the 1990s opened up a new space for protest to develop. Activists' new focus on peace was crucial to strengthening, expanding, and internationalizing the Vieques …