Veterans of all wars face a demanding task in readjusting to civilian life. Vietnam veterans have borne an additional burden, having returned from a controversial war that ended in defeat for the United States and South Vietnam. To address this situation, leaders among the Vietnam veterans and their allies formed organizations of their own to articulate their problems and extract concessions from a reluctant Congress, Federal agencies, and courts.
Scott, a former infantry platoon leader in Vietnam, describes the major social movements among his fellow veterans during the period of 196 to 1990 in a lively narrative, combining personal interviews with documentary and press records. Included in the book are the "sociological stories" of protests against the war in Operations RAW and Dewey Canyon III: the successful effort to place post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, Third Edition (DSM-III), of the American Psychiatric Association; the building of the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., despite fierce opposition; and the long-running controversy over the herbicide Agent Orange. In the last chapter the author details the sociological thinking that informs his stories, and develops the implications for understanding social movements in general and veterans' issues in particular.
Industry Reviews
-The Politics of Readjustment is a highly accessible political history of Vietnam veterans' collective readjustment struggles since the late 1960s. Wilbur J. Scott, a sociologists and Vietnam vet, weaves together the narratives of four major case histories: (1) the Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW), (2) the successful effort tot include post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD) in the American Psychological Association's official diagnostic manual, (3) the prolonged struggle to gain recognition and help for Agent Orange-related ailments, and (4) the creation of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.... The Politics of Readjustment contributes significantly to our understanding of this contentious period by bringing together the diverse political struggles of Vietnam veterans. It should be of particular interest to veterans and highly useful to contemporary American historians.-
--Edward P. Morgan, The Journal of American History
-This volume is one written about Vietnam veterans by a small but remarkable group of sociologists, Veterans who experienced the war themselves. Wilbur J. Scott... served in Vietnam 1968-69 as an army infantry platoon leader.... This is an excellent volume, sociologically informed yet not obtrusively so. It is recommended for sociologists of deviance and the military as well as students of human services bureaucracies and public policy affecting dependent groups.-
--Seymour Leventman, Social Forces
-Scott is correct in his assertion that we need a social theoretical understanding of the events that he describes.-
--G. David Curry, Contemporary Sociology "The Politics of Readjustment is a highly accessible political history of Vietnam veterans' collective readjustment struggles since the late 1960s. Wilbur J. Scott, a sociologists and Vietnam vet, weaves together the narratives of four major case histories: (1) the Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW), (2) the successful effort tot include post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD) in the American Psychological Association's official diagnostic manual, (3) the prolonged struggle to gain recognition and help for Agent Orange-related ailments, and (4) the creation of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.... The Politics of Readjustment contributes significantly to our understanding of this contentious period by bringing together the diverse political struggles of Vietnam veterans. It should be of particular interest to veterans and highly useful to contemporary American historians."
--Edward P. Morgan, The Journal of American History
"This volume is one written about Vietnam veterans by a small but remarkable group of sociologists, Veterans who experienced the war themselves. Wilbur J. Scott... served in Vietnam 1968-69 as an army infantry platoon leader.... This is an excellent volume, sociologically informed yet not obtrusively so. It is recommended for sociologists of deviance and the military as well as students of human services bureaucracies and public policy affecting dependent groups."
--Seymour Leventman, Social Forces
"Scott is correct in his assertion that we need a social theoretical understanding of the events that he describes."
--G. David Curry, Contemporary Sociology "The Politics of Readjustment is a highly accessible political history of Vietnam veterans' collective readjustment struggles since the late 1960s. Wilbur J. Scott, a sociologists and Vietnam vet, weaves together the narratives of four major case histories: (1) the Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW), (2) the successful effort tot include post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD) in the American Psychological Association's official diagnostic manual, (3) the prolonged struggle to gain recognition and help for Agent Orange-related ailments, and (4) the creation of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.... The Politics of Readjustment contributes significantly to our understanding of this contentious period by bringing together the diverse political struggles of Vietnam veterans. It should be of particular interest to veterans and highly useful to contemporary American historians."
--Edward P. Morgan, The Journal of American History
"This volume is one written about Vietnam veterans by a small but remarkable group of sociologists, Veterans who experienced the war themselves. Wilbur J. Scott... served in Vietnam 1968-69 as an army infantry platoon leader.... This is an excellent volume, sociologically informed yet not obtrusively so. It is recommended for sociologists of deviance and the military as well as students of human services bureaucracies and public policy affecting dependent groups."
--Seymour Leventman, Social Forces
"Scott is correct in his assertion that we need a social theoretical understanding of the events that he describes."
--G. David Curry, Contemporary Sociology
