Liminal Moments: Fears and Anxieties between Peace and War

TY - CHAP

T1 - Liminal Moments

T2 - Fears and Anxieties between Peace and War

AU - Tames, Ismee

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © Inter-Disciplinary Press 2015.

PY - 2019/1/1

Y1 - 2019/1/1

N2 - For a brief period, Europeans believed war had become something of the past. More and more, the Second World War became part of history, its lessons canonized. War transformed into an object for Europe’s museum of history; it was no longer a living reality to its citizens. The Yugoslav Wars in the 1990s proved this idea of war as something of the dark European past too optimistic. In the new millennium, terrorist attacks followed, resulting in an increasing fear of extremism. At the time of writing, the crisis in the Ukraine is still at a peak. War has definitely re-entered the horizon of expectations of European citizens. In my paper, I explore current emotions that come with expectations of war and large-zscale political violence in Europe. Are fears and anxieties important among these emotions? What changes can we detect, for instance, when it comes to the use of historical parallels or references to who or what is perceived as ‘the enemy’? As a case study, I will present some initial findings on the Netherlands. Since my research is in a first stage, I will draw mainly on written sources (digital Dutch newspapers). But my aim is to broaden this topic of emotions in the liminal moments between peace and war or violence, to engage people from various disciplines, and to include case studies from many different European nations. Thus aspiring to discover differences, similarities and transfer within Europe when it comes to fears and anxieties with regard to war and large-scale political violence. My paper is therefore also an invitation to other conference participants to join me in working on this subject.

AB - For a brief period, Europeans believed war had become something of the past. More and more, the Second World War became part of history, its lessons canonized. War transformed into an object for Europe’s museum of history; it was no longer a living reality to its citizens. The Yugoslav Wars in the 1990s proved this idea of war as something of the dark European past too optimistic. In the new millennium, terrorist attacks followed, resulting in an increasing fear of extremism. At the time of writing, the crisis in the Ukraine is still at a peak. War has definitely re-entered the horizon of expectations of European citizens. In my paper, I explore current emotions that come with expectations of war and large-zscale political violence in Europe. Are fears and anxieties important among these emotions? What changes can we detect, for instance, when it comes to the use of historical parallels or references to who or what is perceived as ‘the enemy’? As a case study, I will present some initial findings on the Netherlands. Since my research is in a first stage, I will draw mainly on written sources (digital Dutch newspapers). But my aim is to broaden this topic of emotions in the liminal moments between peace and war or violence, to engage people from various disciplines, and to include case studies from many different European nations. Thus aspiring to discover differences, similarities and transfer within Europe when it comes to fears and anxieties with regard to war and large-scale political violence. My paper is therefore also an invitation to other conference participants to join me in working on this subject.

KW - digital research

KW - emotions

KW - expectations

KW - military conflicts

KW - Political fears

KW - political violence

KW - war

U2 - 10.1163/9781848883468_005

DO - 10.1163/9781848883468_005

M3 - Chapter

AN - SCOPUS:85140502234

SN - 9789004370661

SP - 39

EP - 50

BT - Fear and Anxiety in the 21st Century

PB - Brill

CY - Leiden and Boston

ER -