Petitioning subjects: miscegenation in Okinawa from 1945 to 1952 and the crisis of sovereignty |
Petitioning subjects: miscegenation in Okinawa from 1945 to 1952 and the crisis of sovereignty
Inter-Asia Cultural Studies
Volume 11, Issue 3 (2010)
pages 355-374
DOI: 10.1080/14649373.2010.484172
Annmaria Shimabuku, Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature
University of California, Riverside
This paper tells a story about miscegenation between US military personnel and Okinawan women from 1945-1952, which includes sexual violence, the establishment of ‘entertainment districts,’ and the emergence of international marriage. Whereas this history has been mobilized by leftists as a truth-weapon in the struggle for political sovereignty from the US military, this paper takes an explicitly genealogical approach. Drawing on Foucault’s work on biopower, this paper shows how Okinawans were transformed into ‘petitioning subject’—subjects that negotiated the sexual exploitation of their bodies in tandem with the radically changing relationship between their bodies and the territory.
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Tags: Annmaria Shimabuku, Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, Japan, Michel Foucault, Okinawa