Bowling at Guantanamo: Everyday Life at US Military Bases Abroad

Keywords: Military bases, militarization, feminist geography, everyday life
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Sunday
Session Start / End Time: 2/27/2022 11:20 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/27/2022 12:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 20

Abstract

Despite the conventional image of soldiers going off to war, many US soldiers deployed abroad are in fact sent to military bases far outside of war zones. Often bringing their families with them, overseas US bases problematize the simplicity of the war-peace binary. Home to golf courses and elementary schools as well as weapons arsenals and shooting ranges, foreign military installations not only blur the distinction between invasion and cohabitation, but also between hostile and friendly environments. Whether in Germany, Cuba, or Japan, these installations are sites of ordinary life: families dine out in restaurants, friends meet at the bowling alley or the movie theater, children convene in the community center for afterschool activities (Gillem 2007). At the same time, light and sound pollution from military planes disrupts classes and sleep, chemical weapons contaminate wildlife habitats, soldiers with adrenaline to burn contribute to higher crime rates, and still the military seeks to expropriate land and expand its footprint (Lutz 2009; Inoue 2017). Those left to negotiate these tensions are often military-affiliated women—whether wives (Alvah 2007) or sex workers (Moon 1997)—who are landed with the role of ambassadors and translators between the military and local communities. The result is a sort of violent everyday life amidst a militarized peace that raises vital questions about the nature and tools of force being used by the US military today.