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Presented by: Evan PerreaultThe Billboard Campaign:The Los Alamos Study GroupAnd the Nuclear Public SphereAuthor: Joseph Masco

1Currently an Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Social Sciences at the University ChicagoB.A. in Comparative History of Ideas from University of Washington in 1986M.A./Ph.D. in Anthropology from University of California at San Diego in 1991 and 1999 respectivelyHeld a professorship of Anthropology at the University of Oregon

Joseph MascoThe Billboard Campaign: The Los Alamos Study Group and the Nuclear Public SphereBackgroundThe Billboard Campaign: The Los Alamos Study Group and the Nuclear Public SphereNew Mexico is home to:more than 2,500 nuclear warheadsTwo of the nations nuclear weapons laboratoriesWorlds ONLY underground dump of radioactive bomb wasteRanks 43rd in the US on income per capitaHighest rate of working poor/least amount of benefitsMost Americans have little/no knowledge of continued investments in WMD by the United States3The Los Alamos Study Group (LASG)A nonproliferation and peace activism group that was formed at the end of the Cold WarBased out of Albuquerque, New MexicoSpeak out against nuclear weapon consolidationInitiated many campaigns, including the Billboard Campaign

The Billboard Campaign: The Los Alamos Study Group and the Nuclear Public Sphere4AimsThe Billboard Campaign: The Los Alamos Study Group and the Nuclear Public SphereMascos:Make the invisible visible Nuclear DisarmamentEnvironmental Protection Economic SustainabilitySocial JusticeLos Alamos Study Groups:Seek to change public policy and prevent implementation of bad policies.Promote public education on hazards of the nuclear complex

5The Billboard Campaign: The Los Alamos Study Group and the Nuclear Public Sphere

6The Los Alamos Scientific LaboratoryThe Billboard Campaign: The Los Alamos Study Group and the Nuclear Public Sphere

7Target GroupsThe Billboard Campaign: The Los Alamos Study Group and the Nuclear Public SphereGeneral public of New MexicoIncrease awareness of nuclear presence and dangersThe tourist demographicTell travelers the truth behind this pristine landscape Large catholic populations in Northern New MexicoProvoke conflicting moral situations on the topic of producing weapons of mass destruction8The Billboard Campaign: The Los Alamos Study Group and the Nuclear Public Sphere

9From 1940-1996, the US has spent at least $5.8 trillion on nuclear weapons, making them the third largest expenditure after nonnuclear military and Social Security spending.In 2011, the US Government spent $964.8 billions dollars on National Defense

http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/defense_budget_2012_3.htmlMilitarism in the USThe Billboard Campaign: The Los Alamos Study Group and the Nuclear Public Sphere

10ImpactsNew Mexico is part of a rural American economic space that relies on the Four PsPlutoniumPokerPrisonPigsExposed the links between global and local economiesProvoke consideration of the spheres that the nuclear project act withinFurther ResearchCompile data on political figureheads and elected representatives Evaluate public movements regarding the reallocation of federal expenditures within the Dept. of EnergyStudies (surveys) that evaluate the knowledge of the general public in and out of New Mexico on the nuclear complex

The Billboard Campaign: The Los Alamos Study Group and the Nuclear Public SphereConclusionThe Billboard Campaign: The Los Alamos Study Group and the Nuclear Public SphereComplex nuclear weapons infrastructureImmense continued investment into nuclear research and developmentRising militarism needs to be answered forNew Mexico is held hostage by WashingtonThe LASG has effectively turned a purely capitalist and quiet space into a space of political mobilization and citizen critique.

12ReferencesThe Billboard Campaign: The Los Alamos Study Group and the Nuclear Public SphereMasco, Joseph. "The Billboard Campaign: The Los Alamos Study Group and the Nuclear Public Sphere." Public Culture 17.3 (2005): 487-98. Print.http://anthropology.uchicago.edu/people/faculty_member/joseph_p._mascoLos Alamos Study Group. "LASG Home Page." LASG Home Page. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2012. .http://ninohasstories.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/coinci.jpg?w=462"Department of Anthropology." Joseph P. Masco. University of Chicago, 2012. Web. 11 Nov. 2012. .http://www.nukewatch.org/facts/nwd/SimpleFacts043104.pdfhttp://bber.unm.edu/econ/sttpipci.htm

Questions?The Billboard Campaign: The Los Alamos Study Group and the Nuclear Public Sphere