Masquerades of War

‘How can we know war given that it is presented to us through a shifting kaleidoscope of masquerades, reflected, refracted though mostly obfuscated through mainstream social science? While the authors in this remarkable volume do not pretend to know war, their ability to lay bare the productive power behind the masquerade invites us to reappraise war’s brutal materiality as it is mediated through cynical representation. In so doing, we are encouraged to side-step International Relations’ typically sanitised renderings of war, where absently present bodies only ever haunt the dominant, yet shackled security narrative. Harnessing insights from performance theory, postcolonial literature, sociology, art and fiction, Professor Sylvester has collected a series of brilliantly insightful essays that take the idea of masquerade as their key point of departure. This highly readable collection from leading scholars in their respective fields troubles the institutionalised wellspring from which understandings of war invariably spring, and in turn, provides for spaces of uncomfortable, yet potent challenges to how we can know war in contemporary times.’ -- Paul Higate, University of Bristol, UK

'War does not simply take place on the battlefield, nor is it confined to the moment of crisis. The power of war is that it has the capacity to permeate the everyday and the routine, impacting not just on international politics, but also on lived experience. Masquerades of War is a collection of essays that captures this complexity of war in all its manifestations, but especially as it impacts on experience. Sylvester and her colleagues place the lens on war as ‘masquerade’, highlighting the performativity of war, its manipulations and deceptions across different contexts, from Iraq to Sierra Leone to the neighbourhoods of urban spaces. A profoundly significant book that deserves the attention of all scholars interested in understanding the phenomenon of war.' -- Vivienne Jabri, King’s College London, UK