Julie Bessler Entry No. 4 (Taussig)

The two readings for this week, Taussig’s “Culture of Terror” and the Guardian’s “NSA files decoded,” are an interesting account on the culture of terror through narration and the problems of writing “effectively against terror.”

In Taussig’s accounts of Casement’s Putumayo Report, he sheds light on the horrendous treatment of the Putumayo Indians in the rubber-gathering trade. The managers of the outpost had the authority to instill harm and fear on the Indians if they had not met quota or had gathered insufficient rubber for the day. Casement’s accounts explain that by instilling fear, and harming the Indians to near death, were acceptable actions in order to ensure that the rubber-gathering would be perfected in the future. However, Taussig explains that while up to 90 percent of the 1600 Indians had been badly beaten, the violence against the Putumayo Indians accounted for the rubber boom and its success, as it wasn’t labor that was scarce, but the rubber itself. Taussig points out that the evidence of this violence comes through personal narratives. One has to take into account whether the stories are an exaggeration or an understatement. Yet, either way, the most important factor to take out is that “the narratives are in themselves evidence of the process whereby a culture of terror was created and sustained.”

I think that this is an interesting line to keep in mind when looking at the interactive about the NSA files. I remember when the Guardian had just released the NSA documents and the story of Edward Snowden and his mission to shed light on the US’ surveillance apparatus. It was the only thing any one could think about. And while the US government, the NSA and President Obama scrambled in justifying the surveillance apparatus as necessary for counter-terrorism, all anyone could think about was that there was a possibility their lives were being documented. Yet, while this was a valid concern amongst many Americans and others around the world, this feeling of fear and terror was created, in my opinion, through Snowden’s personal accounts. All of a sudden, we were tracking the life of Snowden and his escape from the US to (no place better than) Russia. Various interviews were conducted, and I couldn’t help but think that each was very carefully filmed and written, as (to me) it seemed like the Rapture was about to happen whenever he spoke about the surveillance apparatuses of the US and other nations. [For example, look at Edward Snowden’s Christmas (or Thanksgiving...I don’t remember) video message].

Citizens around the world all of a sudden became more terrified of the surveillance apparatus than terrorism itself. Whistleblowers have existed for years- they have shed light on the actions of administrations, whether it be immoral policies or surveillance. Yet, Snowden’s accounts took this well known fact of national/international surveillance to a completely different level. In retrospect, none of us should be that shocked, yet it was in the way the information was released and given to populations that created a sense of fear and terror of the surveillance apparatus that is actually meant to protect populations. While I am a person that believes in basic civil liberties and the right to privacy, I am also a realist and know/have known that surveillance apparatuses exist in every country. It is no doubt that the media had blown up a very well known institution that has existed for years, and instilled a sense of fear and terror amongst its audience. As Taussig says, “Surely it is in the coils of rumor, gossip, story, and chit-chat where ideology and ideas become emotionally powerful and enter into active social circulation and meaningful existence.”