"Are Americans Becoming More Peaceful?" A new book written by Paul Joseph, Director of the Peace and Justice Studies program at Tufts, tries to answer that very question.
But Joseph's work as a whole goes far beyond any modern American phenomena. In fact, his research has spanned from Vietnam to New Zealand and several destinations in between, culminating in numerous books and papers that deal with the common theme of how social movements affect public policy. He often uses the experience of other cultures as a window into improving life in America.
In "Are Americans Becoming More Peaceful?" Joseph explores the parallels that exist between Vietnam and Iraq. "Iraq is not turning into a jungle," he said, "but the idea of an open-ended war, with the media seeming to anger politicians, with a disgruntled public, may be coming back."
Besides just Baghdad and Hanoi, Joseph's research has also reached to many destinations, including the city of Christchurch on the South Island of New Zealand. He recently spent a year there on sabbatical with his wife and three children, researching relations between the British government and the Maori, the native people of New Zealand, who are of Polynesian descent.
Joseph focused his research on the Waitangi Tribunal of 1975, an example of grassroots activism that allowed the Maori and the British to reconcile their differences.
According to Joseph, the Maori still experience inequality today, but they have historically been treated with more dignity than have other native peoples. He cited examples of a Maori radio station in New Zealand, the Maori language being taught in schools, and the New Zealand rugby team, the All Blacks, performing a ritual Maori war dance before each match.
"There is inequality, but [the situation there] is much better than it is here," he said. Joseph argued that such positive relations have not yet occurred in the United States with Native Americans.
Is a tribunal a possible model for future relations with Native Americans? According to Joseph, it may be a goal worth pursuing, but it would be difficult to right all wrongs of the past.
Joseph explained that a comprehensive look at history is necessary for righting past wrongs. One of his efforts to do so involved serving as a guest curator of the Aidekman Arts Gallery during a Smithsonian Institute expos?© exhibit on the history of the atomic bomb.
Contact with the Smithsonian wasn't Joseph's first close relationship with a museum: "I grew up in Manhattan, on the West Side, right near the Natural History Museum," he said. "I was there quite a bit."
The Aidekman exhibit, which addressed whether the bomb was necessary, was only displayed at Tufts after it was cancelled by officials in Washington. Unfortunately, the exhibit won't be shown again: "It's a one-time only thing," Joseph said.
In addition to the exhibit, Joseph has examined the impact of WWII memories on Japanese policy. "Memory politics," as Joseph calls them, reflect the war's influence on all of Japan, not just the areas affected by the bomb.
"They are not just trying to document what happened, but how these memories can be used to further the peace process," he said.
Luckily, Joseph doesn't mind getting out of the classroom. "That's one of the great things about being a professor," he said. "You get time off to do what you enjoy."
