Armed Self-Defense in Recent America: Intersectional Perspectives
Final Report Abstract
Our project was prompted by the recent escalation of shootings and subsequent deaths of mainly young Black men at the hands of white shooters, most notably the shooting of Trayvon Martin in 2012. Our focus on the racial and gendered aspects of these incidents aimed to understand the justifications given for violence, often framed as self-defense. The evolution of race relations, the Trump presidency, and the Black Lives Matter movement since 2016 underscore the increasing significance of our research on the history and disparity of armed self-defense in the United States. Our subproject focused on different dimensions of armed self-defense by white men through the lens of the Bernhard Goetz case. In December 1984, Goetz shot and severely injured four African American teenagers in the New York subway when they asked him for five Dollars. The case served as a gateway into 1980s urban America, with its social, political, racial, and gendered tensions, divides, and insecurities. Analyzing spatial boundaries in the aftermath of the civil rights movement, the subproject has explored how spatial segregation influences perceptions of crime, fear, and the legitimacy of violence. The subproject identified the post-civil rights era as a crucial period in the history of violence, during which social and political transformations and the racial and gendered politics of violence became closely intertwined. Investigating the case against the backdrop of the conservative restoration since the 1970s, the subproject has demonstrated how the advocacy for armed self-defense was part of a broader white backlash against social transformations triggered by the Civil Rights Movement. In this way, the subproject has highlighted the complex interplay of race, space, and violence and contributed to a better understanding of how different actors claim varying access to the right of self-defense based on their positions in U.S. society. It has not only shed light on the urban history of 1970s and 1980s New York City but also provided insights into recent gun-related deaths and the underlying social and political crises they reflect.
Publications
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“‘Vigilante Spirit’: Vom amerikanischen Recht auf Land, Waffen und Selbstverteidigung,” Geschichte der Gegenwart, 13 December 2020
Beumer, Pia
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“Diese Liebe zur Gewalt,” WOZ: Die Wochenzeitung, No. 2 (2021)
Beumer Pia, Barbara Lüthi & Rebecca Rössling
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“Bernhard Goetz and the roots of Kyle Rittenhouse’s celebrity on the right,” Washington Post, 15 June 2022
Beumer, Pia
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A toxic culture enabled the recent shootings of young innocent people,” Washington Post, 24 April 2023
Beumer, Pia
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Vom Recht auf bewaffnete Selbstverteidigung. Geschlecht, Gewalt und Gesellschaft, 255-272. transcript Verlag.
Beumer, Pia & Martschukat, Jürgen
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“A toxic culture enabled the recent shootings of young innocent people,” SFB Blog “Transformation of Property,” 31 May 2023
Beumer, Pia
