The Politics of Consolation: Memory and the Meaning of September 11

By Christina Simko, Assistant Professor of Sociology. An analysis of American leaders’ discourse in the period immediately following the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 as well as how consolation dialogue and a desire to “define the meaning of Sept. 11” shaped the way leaders spoke about issues surrounding Sept. 11 in the following years, including foreign policy and the redevelopment of the World Trade Center.