Content area
Full Text
The U.S. government tested 67 atomic and thermonuclear bombs in the Marshall Islands between 1946 and 1958, one hundred times more megatonnage than was detonated at the Nevada test site. While these facts are relatively well known, the numerous and varied effects of these experiments on the Marshallese people are not. Holly Barker's book Bravo for the Marshallese: Regaining control in a post-nuclear, post-colonial world addresses the medical, social, economic, linguistic, and psychological impact that America's nuclear testing program had and continues to have on the lives of the Marshall Islanders. Barker bases her discussion on a rich assortment of ethno-historical data that include extensive interviews, fieldwork, and recently declassified documents. Probably the greatest strength of this book is that it gives voice to the radiation survivors. Her ability to convey the survivors' most intimate and tragic experiences with sensitivity and clarity can, in part, be attributed to her 15-year collaborative relationship with the people of the Marshall Islands. Barker frames the ethnographic material within a historical and descriptive discussion that gives context to the narratives and grounds the data. Yet, despite the many strengths of this book, Barker's analysis of the data presented falls short of its promise.
Bravo for the Marshallese is part of a new Thomson/Wadsworth series on applied anthropology, Case Studies on Contemporary Social Issues. The purpose of the series is to provide its readers, primarily high school and undergraduate students, with a working understanding of important contemporary social issues in various world regions, in a format that is both substantive and accessible. Barker's book, with its readable style and structure, fits well with the purpose of this series. Many readers may find her book reminiscent of the series Case Studies in Cultural Anthropology, edited by George and Louise Spindler (published by Holt, Rinehart & Winston), as it not only covers what might be considered anthropological basics but also appears to mirror the format used in that series. The prevalent themes in Bravo for the Marshallese , however, focus more on the applied potential of anthropology, sociopolitical issues in light of colonialism, the culpability of the United States and its agents, and the Marshall Islanders' responses to their experiences.
In...