Agent Orange : history, science, and the politics of uncertainty /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:	Martini, Edwin A., 1975-
Imprint:	Amherst, MA : University of Massachusetts Press, ©2012.
Description:	1 online resource (320 pages)
Language:	English
Series:	Culture, politics, and the cold war Culture, politics, and the Cold War.
Subject:	Veterans -- Diseases -- Australia. Veterans -- Diseases -- United States. Agent Orange -- Environmental aspects. Agent Orange -- Toxicology. Agent Orange -- War use. Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Chemical warfare. Agent Orange -- Toxicology. Agent Orange -- War use. Chemical warfare. Veterans -- Diseases. Australia. United States. Electronic book.
Format:	E-Resource Book
URL for this record:	http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/11302333

Hidden Bibliographic Details
ISBN:	9781613762202 1613762208 155849975X 9781558499751 9781558499744 1558499741
Notes:	Includes bibliographical references and index. Print version record.
Summary:	"Taking on what one former U.S. ambassador called "the last ghost of the Vietnam War," this book examines the far-reaching impact of Agent Orange, the most infamous of the dioxin-contaminated herbicides used by American forces in Southeast Asia. Edwin A. Martini's aim is not simply to reconstruct the history of the "chemical war" but to investigate the ongoing controversy over the short- and long-term effects of weaponized defoliants on the environment of Vietnam, on the civilian population, and on the troops who fought on both sides. Beginning in the early 1960s, when Agent Orange was first deployed in Vietnam, Martini follows the story across geographical and disciplinary boundaries, looking for answers to a host of still unresolved questions. What did chemical manufacturers and American policymakers know about the effects of dioxin on human beings, and when did they know it? How much do scientists and doctors know even today? Should the use of Agent Orange be considered a form of chemical warfare? What can, and should, be done for U.S. veterans, Vietnamese victims, and others around the world who believe they have medical problems caused by Agent Orange? Martini draws on military records, government reports, scientific research, visits to contaminated sites, and interviews to disentangle conflicting claims and evaluate often ambiguous evidence. He shows that the impact of Agent Orange has been global in its reach affecting individuals and communities in New Zealand, Australia, Korea, and Canada as well as Vietnam and the United States. Yet for all the answers it provides, this book also reveals how much uncertainty - scientific, medical, legal, and political - continues to surround the legacy of Agent Orange."--Project Muse.
Other form:	Print version: Martini, Edwin A., 1975- Agent Orange. Amherst, MA : University of Massachusetts Press, ©2012

Table of Contents:

List of abbreviations and acronyms
Introduction: approaching Agent Orange
Only you can prevent forests: the chemical war and the illusion of control
Hearts, minds, and herbicides: the politics of the chemical war
Incinerating Agent Orange: dioxin, disposal, and the environmental imaginary
The politics of uncertainty: science, policy, and the state
"All those others so unfortunate": Vietnam and the global legacies of the chemical war
Conclusion: Agent Orange and the limits of science and history.

Agent Orange : history, science, and the politics of uncertainty /

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