james_davis_nicoll: (Default)
james_davis_nicoll ([personal profile] james_davis_nicoll) wrote2008-10-01 11:13 am

I need a name for a rising subgenre

What do you call books that are reacting to the reaction to 9/11? That is, post-9/11 I got books that argued e.g. that what America really needs to protect itself from the deadly menace of weaponized squirrel brains is a secret service not bound to answer to anyone, especially elected officials. Now I'm seeing material that suggest that perhaps oversight is useful and fanatical devotion to the pope national security above all else may have draw backs. What do I call that material?

[Let's clarify this:

After 9/11 there were a lot of books and TV shows whose premise was that America needed security more than minutia like civil rights. Now that a few years have passed, an increasing number of books are concerned about the abuses that are justified as being necessary for security. I was wondering what the second sort of book, the one that a counter-reaction to the reaction to 9/11, is called]

[And I unlocked this because it's not like I mentioned anything by name]
ext_12272: Rainbow over Cleveland, from Edgewater Park overlooking the beach. (People Amaze Me)

[identity profile] summers-place.livejournal.com 2008-10-01 09:14 pm (UTC)(link)
Ummmm.... you need to read the initial post again. He mentioned TWO TYPES of material, which I will describe by paraphrasing:

Type 1) Books and TV shows whose premise was that what America really needs to protect itself is a secret service not bound to answer to anyone, that America needed security more than civil rights

Type 2) Books and material that appears concerned about the abuses that are justified as being necessary for security and suggests that perhaps oversight is useful and that fanatical devotion to national security above all else may have drawbacks - in other words, material that appears to be the opposite of Type 1

What he's asking for is a descriptive term for the Type 2 material.

Clearer now?
Edited 2008-10-01 21:21 (UTC)

[identity profile] martianmooncrab.livejournal.com 2008-10-02 06:33 am (UTC)(link)
ahh, the Opposite... that does change the angle of approach.