Carly Buxton, PhD

I write books that take seriously the power of the subliminal mind in decision-making. My approach to historical practice (which I call “History of the Moment”) encourages readers to honor historical subjects as embedded in the ideals and taboos of their environment.

NONFICTION

My nonfiction writings explore the power of the physical and social environment to shape identity and behavior.

Although my field of specialization is Japanese Studies, my work crosses multiple genres and has implications for readers interested in Asian American studies, race studies, anthropology, sociology, and more.

Unthinking Collaboration

Unthinking Collaboration: American Nisei in Transwar Japan takes a closer look into the everyday lives, education, opportunities, social expectations, and treatment of Japanese Americans living in transwar Japan to question the meaning of “collaboration” in Japan both during and after World War II. (University of Hawai`i Press, 2022)

DEFAMILIARIZING JAPAN’S ASIA-PACIFIC WAR

This wide-ranging collection seeks to reassess conventional understanding of Japan’s Asia-Pacific War by defamiliarizing and expanding the rhetorical narrative. Its nine chapters, diverse in theme and method, are united in their goal to recover a measured historicity about the conflict by either introducing new areas of knowledge or reinterpreting existing ones. Collectively, they cast doubt on the war as familiar and recognizable, compelling readers to view it with fresh eyes.