Settler Garrison: Debt Imperialism, Militarism, and Transpacific Imaginaries

Settler Garrison Jodi Kim argues that the US uses militarist settler imperialism to extend its sovereignty across Asia and the Pacific in the post-World War II era, leveraging debt as an economic and cultural relation. This is reproduced in juridically ambiguous spaces called the "settler garrison," where cultural productions create antimilitarist and decolonial imaginaries that diagnose US militarist settler imperialism and envision alternatives.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 272 pages
Publication date: 09 May 2022
Publisher: Duke University Press

In Settler Garrison, Jodi Kim delves into the intricate ways in which the United States extends its sovereignty across Asia and the Pacific in the post-World War II era. Through a militarist settler imperialism strategy that harnesses debt as a multifaceted economic and cultural bond, underpinned by power asymmetries, Kim illustrates how the United States portrays itself as an imperial creditor, imposing financial and emotional indebtedness alongside a disciplinary payback temporality, all while evading its own debt repayment. This debt imperialism manifests violently in juridically ambiguous spaces, known as the "settler garrison," which encompasses a colonial archipelago of distinct yet interconnected military camptowns, bases, POW camps, and unincorporated territories spanning from South Korea to Okinawa to Guam. Kim unveils this process through a comprehensive analysis of how a diverse range of transpacific cultural productions cultivate antimilitarist and decolonial imaginaries, diagnosing US militarist settler imperialism and offering alternatives to it.

In Settler Garrison, Jodi Kim explores the complex mechanisms through which the United States expands its sovereignty across Asia and the Pacific in the post-World War II era. Employing a militarist settler imperialism approach that leverages debt as a multifaceted economic and cultural bond, underpinned by power asymmetries, Kim illustrates how the United States portrays itself as an imperial creditor, imposing financial and emotional indebtedness alongside a disciplinary payback temporality, all while evading its own debt repayment. This debt imperialism manifests violently in juridically ambiguous spaces, known as the "settler garrison," which encompasses a colonial archipelago of distinct yet interconnected military camptowns, bases, POW camps, and unincorporated territories spanning from South Korea to Okinawa to Guam. Kim unveils this process through a comprehensive analysis of how a diverse range of transpacific cultural productions cultivate antimilitarist and decolonial imaginaries, diagnosing US militarist settler imperialism and offering alternatives to it.

Weight: 396g
Dimension: 152 x 228 x 31 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781478018315