Peacekeeping under fire : culture and intervention /

Part memoir, part case study, and part analytic endeavor, this short work (146 pages) provides the reader with chapters titled "A Brief and Selective History of Peacekeeping," "Culture and Peacekeeping," "Symbolic Construction of Community and Cooperation," and "Peacekeeping under Fire" and others on varied topics. Rubinstein's anthropological study of peacekeeping concludes by seeking to show that "It is essential that peace-keeping be recognized as cultural practice." This is not at all surprising, given the author's claim that "cultural considerations affect all levels of peacekeeping." Along the way, Rubinstein (Syracuse Univ.) weaves in personal remembrances ("Traffic moved slowly but steadily as I drove from downtown Cairo ...") with some rather intriguing sounding research including the "hail and farewell rituals of the happy hour" during which different nationals provide the lubrication for social interaction among the diverse peacekeepers. Of perhaps greatest conceptual utility is the author's juxtaposition of "Traditional Military" norms and those of "Contemporary Peacekeeping," which shows the importance of what he calls the "destabilization of the cultural inversions upon which peacekeeping depends." Summing Up: Recommended. Professional collections. C. Potholm II Bowdoin College