Conclusions: Remembering Terror and Trauma — Embodying Social Theory in an Age of Global Fear

Abstract

As the USA was gearing up for war in Afghanistan, as Stacy Takacs noted in ‘Politics, Perception and Popular Culture: The Shaping of 9/11’, ‘popular culture assumed a proactive stance in shaping the memory of 9/11. No longer a national “wound,” 9/11 was “recuperated” as an opportunity for heroism and righteous vengeance’. As she noted: ‘President Bush set the tone when he told Congress and the American people, “Our grief has turned to anger, and anger to resolution. Whether we bring our enemies to justice, or bring justice to our enemies, justice will be done”.¹ Takacs also acknowledged the significance of reframing masculinities for this new national project of war: ‘Masculinity and violence were keys to this recuperation: the male passengers of United 93 were lauded as “heroes” for their “let’s roll” machismo, and New York City firemen were celebrated as icons of American courage. Meanwhile, the more obvious “victims” of the day — Wall Street stockbrokers, “falling bodies”, women, and widows — were shunted off the national stage.’