Steven Johnston

Steven Johnston is the Neal A. Maxwell Presidential Chair in Political Theory, Public Policy, and Public Service in the Department of Political Science at the University of Utah, where he teaches courses in contemporary, democratic, and modern political theory and politics and film. He is the author of Wonder and Cruelty: Ontological War in 'It's a Wonderful Life' (Lexington, 2019); Lincoln: The Ambiguous Icon (Rowman & Littlefield, 2018); American Dionysia: Violence, Tragedy, and Democratic Politics (Cambridge, 2015); The Truth about Patriotism (Duke, 2007); and Encountering Tragedy: Rousseau and the Project of Democratic Order (Cornell,1999), as well as articles and essays in Political Theory, Theory & Event, Polity, Political Research Quarterly, Strategies, and Contemporary Political Theory. He is currently finishing a book on John le Carre and The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. He also regularly writes theoretical posts for The Contemporary Condition on politics and culture. He lives in Salt Lake City and has been known to hang out in Washington, D.C.