Dissertation Defense - Michael Rupert: An American Story of Insurgency: Narrative, Discourse, and Power in Knowledge Production

Dissertation Defense - Michael Rupert:
An American Story of Insurgency: Narrative, Discourse, and Power in Knowledge Production

Thursday, December 5th 
9:00am-11:00am
Metropolitan Building 5183
 

Committee Members:

Sara Cobb, Ph.D.
Drucie French Cumbie Chair
School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution

Solon Simmons, Ph.D.
Associate Professor and Director of the UndergraduateProgram at the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution

Jessica Scarlata, PhD
Associate Professor
English, Film and Media Studies

Title and Abstract:

An American Story of Insurgency: Narrative, Discourse, and Power in Knowledge Production

Advancement in counterinsurgency research, doctrine, and practice is hindered by discursive boundaries established in part by institutional narratives within the COIN community. Applying a narrative analytical approach, based in deconstruction, the boundaries set by the insurgency narrative are explored by dismantling claims and evaluations of the insurgent, its setting, and the central themes of prominent COIN scholars. Reconstructing the definition of insurgency reveals the role of the institutional narrative in suppressing less biased understandings of insurgents and their setting, hindering analysis, and acting as an ideational resource of power.