| dc.description.abstract | In the wake of President Trump’s refugee ban, hashtags such as “#veteransoverrefugees” circulated throughout Twitter, indirectly shaping public discourse on immigration. Memes questioning the government over “why we should feed 10,00 Syrian rebels” when we could supposedly “take care of 50,000 homeless veterans instead,” not only shape narratives on who is and is not worthy of help in our society, but ultimately have a lasting impact on immigration and health policy (Nahan, 2017). Veterans and refugees thus become two sides of the same coin: competing products of war waged by liberal democracies. Not only are they are defined by their relationship to the state as either being the epitome or antithesis of a citizen, but both ultimately symbolize objects of state control with two drastically different sets of cultural significance. By conducting a comparison of the rhetoric of PTSD and other effects of trauma within refugees and veterans—two figures of war—I show how narratives surrounding refugee and veteran health are intrinsically tied to national security, neoliberal economization, and the control of bodies. I find that economization and national security frameworks used by media and politicians not only create a “good” and a “bad” PTSD based on a population’s perceived deservingness, but also that such narratives are used to justify warfare, trauma, and Eugenics-based immigration and health policies. Finally, I highlight importance of critiquing normative models of care based on notions of cost, in the hopes of promoting a discussion on changing the rhetoric around refugee and veteran lives to promote the mental health and wellbeing of both groups. | |
