Materializing Democracy: Toward a Revitalized Cultural Politics (New Americanists) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0822329387 ISBN 13: 9780822329381

Publisher: Duke University Press Books, 2002

Synopsis

For the most part, democracy is simply presumed to exist in the United States. It is viewed as a completed project rather than as a goal to be achieved. Fifteen leading scholars challenge that stasis in Materializing Democracy. They aim to reinvigorate the idea of democracy by placing it in the midst of a contentious political and cultural fray, which, the volume’s editors argue, is exactly where it belongs. Drawing on literary criticism, cultural studies, history, legal studies, and political theory, the essays collected here highlight competing definitions and practices of democracy—in politics, society, and, indeed, academia.

Covering topics ranging from rights discourse to Native American performance, from identity politics to gay marriage, and from rituals of public mourning to the Clinton-Lewinsky affair, the contributors seek to understand the practices, ideas, and material conditions that enable or foreclose democracy’s possibilities. Through readings of subjects as diverse as Will Rogers, Alexis de Tocqueville, slave narratives, interactions along the Texas-Mexico border, and liberal arts education, the contributors also explore ways of making democracy available for analysis. Materializing Democracy suggests that attention to disparate narratives is integral to the development of more complex, vibrant versions of democracy.

Contributors. Lauren Berlant, Wendy Brown, Chris Castiglia, Russ Castronovo, Joan Dayan, Wai Chee Dimock, Lisa Duggan, Richard R. Flores, Kevin Gaines, Jeffrey C. Goldfarb, Michael Moon, Dana D. Nelson, Christopher Newfield, Donald E. Pease

About this title

From the Publisher:

"Materializing Democracy is an excellent and exciting collection of essays by a group of distinguished scholars who together address both the promises and limits of current and historical practices and theories of American democracy. This book will appeal to scholars and students across the disciplines who are interested in the intersection of culture, politics, national identity, and citizenship."—Amy Kaplan, coeditor of Cultures of United States Imperialism

"The editors of Materializing Democracy have a vision—an activist vision—that, combined with rigorous analysis and scholarship, imparts an unusual energy and excitement to this volume."—Priscilla Wald, author of Constituting Americans: Cultural Anxiety and Narrative Form

From the Back Cover:

"The editors of "Materializing Democracy" have a vision--an activist vision--that, combined with rigorous analysis and scholarship, imparts an unusual energy and excitement to this volume."--Priscilla Wald, author of "Constituting Americans: Cultural Anxiety and Narrative Form"

About this edition

• Publisher: Duke University Press Books
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0822329387
• ISBN 13: 9780822329381
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 440
• Editor: Castronovo Russ, Nelson Dana D.