Rice anthropologist weighs in on veterans’ life after the fighting ends

Rice University
Office of Public Affairs / News & Media Relations

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David Ruth
713-348-6327
david@rice.edu

Amy McCaig
713-348-6777
amym@rice.edu

Rice anthropologist weighs in on veterans’ life after the fighting ends

HOUSTON – (Nov. 10, 2015) – What’s life really like for soldiers after the fighting ends? Rice anthropologist Zoë Wool is available to discuss this topic, which is the subject of her recent book, “After War.”

Zoe Wool’s “After War.”

n the book, Wool explores how America’s most severely injured soldiers struggle to return to ordinary life while recovering from extraordinary wounds at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. She said that one of the real challenges for soldiers is living up to the stereotype most Americans believe – the idea all soldiers are pro-government “patriots” who support their government and military, no questions asked.

“In the U.S., there is no compulsory military service and, since 1973, no draft,” Wool said. “Soldiers inhabit a public imaginary that – especially in times of national anxiety – binds them to an exceptional form of personhood inflected with heroism and patriotic commitment.”

Wool, an assistant professor of anthropology, said that over the course of her fieldwork, she realized that this traditional American profile of a soldier and what motivates him to serve his country is not always consistent with who soldiers actually are and their political views.

“Unfortunately, if a soldier doesn’t live up to this stereotype, it can affect how he is treated, both by veterans organizations and the public at large,” she said.

Wool noted that a number of veterans she worked with actually felt uncomfortable with the amount of attention they received for their “heroic” behavior.

“The guys I spent time with made it clear that being a soldier was their job — a job unlike others in many ways, but they thought of their injuries as having happened as part of their job, rather than being the outcome of patriotic sacrifice,” Wool said. “While glad to have recognition denied their Vietnam-era counterparts, they felt guilt when receiving special treatment or excessive attention couched in the language of gratitude and sacrifice.”

For more information or to schedule an interview with Wool, contact Amy McCaig, senior media relations specialist at Rice, at 713-348-6777 or amym@rice.edu.

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Related materials:

Zoe Wool bio: http://bit.ly/1NIspot

Duke Press blog post: http://bit.ly/1ROu2QA

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