Download A Macat Analysis of John W. Dower's War Without Mercy: Race and Power in the Pacific War AudioBook Free
In his 1986 publication Warfare Without Mercy, North american historian John Dower examines Japanese-American relations during World Warfare II and investigates links between popular culture, stereotypes, and extreme violence. He argues that it was the concept of racism - used similarly by both sides - that underpinned the military services conflict and led to an especially brutal war in the Pacific and East Asia. Racial stereotypes were intentionally transmitted through media and government propaganda on both sides, transforming enemy forces into subhuman personas that deserved to be dominated. Fueling such dread and loathing of the "second-rate other" created a certain mind-set among American and Japanese military that observed them focusing on the utter destruction of an opponent believed to be beasts and vermin. Dower argues that after hostilities ceased, these racial stereotypes did not vanish but were reused to spell it out whichever new opponent emerged. Warfare Without Mercy has won several prizes, including the US National Booklet Critics Circle Award, and Dower remains one of the most important modern scholars on Japanese-American relations.
