Benjamin Schrader, Director of Adult Learner and Veteran Services at Colorado State University and author, shares powerful insights on veteran activism. He redefines the narrative around veterans, portraying them not as victims but as active agents of change. The conversation explores their transitions from military service to social justice, addressing issues like antiwar organizing and economic justice. Schrader emphasizes the critical need for veterans to reshape notions of patriotism and the importance of telling their own stories in the journey toward healing and activism.
55:31
forum Ask episode
web_stories AI Snips
view_agenda Chapters
menu_book Books
auto_awesome Transcript
info_circle Episode notes
insights INSIGHT
Veterans as Subjects, Not Objects
Veterans are often treated as objects with medicalized labels rather than active knowledge producers.
Treating veterans as subjects engages their voices in understanding and activism about their experiences.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Military Service to Anti-War Activism
Benjamin Schrader describes his military service as a cavalry scout and initial excitement turning to disillusionment during Iraq deployment.
He realized the war was not about helping people but about profit for corporations, deepening his anti-war stance.
question_answer ANECDOTE
IVAW DNC Protest Organizing
Schrader recalls organizing major protests with Iraq Veterans Against the War around the 2008 DNC with Rage Against the Machine.
They faced police pushback and negotiated protest routes, culminating in impactful veteran-led standoffs.
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
Fight to Live, Live to Fight, Veteran Activism After War
Fight to Live, Live to Fight, Veteran Activism After War
Veteran Activism after War
Benjamin Schrader
Dr. Benjamin Schrader's "Fight to Live, Live to Fight" explores the experiences of U.S. military veterans who engage in social justice activism after their service. The book uses interviews and personal narratives to illustrate how veterans process grief and guilt through activism, challenging traditional notions of patriotism and bravery. Schrader highlights the veterans' efforts to demilitarize their communities and themselves, demonstrating a powerful connection between personal healing and social change. The book offers valuable insights into the complexities of veteran life and the transformative power of activism. It challenges common perceptions of veterans and their roles in society.
While veterans are often talked about, in Fight to Live, Live to Fight Veteran Activism after War: Veteran Activism after War(SUNY Press, 2019), Dr. Benjamin Schrader flips this this perspective by focusing on veterans telling their own stories. These veterans are not "broken" or "damaged and dangerous" from their experiences in war, rather they are active agents in their own healing and demilitarization. Schrader weaves his own experiences in the US military and then as a member of activist communities with the stories of other activist veterans across the United States. He critically examines US foreign and domestic policy through the narratives of post-9/11 military veterans who have turned to social justice activism after leaving the military. These veterans are involved in a wide array of activism, including antiwar organizing, economic justice, sexual violence prevention, immigration issues, and veteran healing through art. In the process of attempting to demilitarize their communities and themselves, these veterans turned activists remake their understandings of bravery and patriotism. This is an accessible and engaging work that may be read and appreciated not just by scholars, but also students and anyone interested in understanding the lives of veterans and the effects of war.
Benjamin Schrader, Ph.D. is the Director of the Adult Learner and Veteran Services at Colorado State University.
New Books in Sociology