Exceptional State: Contemporary U.S. Culture and the New Imperialism (New Americanists) - Softcover

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9780822338208: Exceptional State: Contemporary U.S. Culture and the New Imperialism (New Americanists)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0822338203 ISBN 13: 9780822338208

Publisher: Duke University Press Books, 2007

Exceptional State analyzes the nexus of culture and contemporary manifestations of U.S. imperialism. The contributors, established and emerging cultural studies scholars, define culture broadly to include a range of media, literature, and political discourse. They do not posit September 11, 2001 as the beginning of U.S. belligerence and authoritarianism at home and abroad, but they do provide context for understanding U.S. responses to and uses of that event. Taken together, the essays stress both the continuities and discontinuities embodied in a present-day U.S. imperialism constituted through expressions of millennialism, exceptionalism, technological might, and visions of world dominance.

The contributors address a range of topics, paying particular attention to the dynamics of gender and race. Their essays include a surprising reading of the ostensibly liberal movies Wag the Dog and Three Kings, an exploration of the rhetoric surrounding the plan to remake the military into a high-tech force less dependent on human bodies, a look at the significance of the popular Left Behind series of novels, and an interpretation of the Abu Ghraib prison photos. They scrutinize the national narrative created to justify the U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, the ways that women in those countries have responded to the invasions, the contradictions underlying calls for U.S. humanitarian interventions, and the role of Africa in the U.S. imperial imagination. The volume concludes on a hopeful note, with a look at an emerging anti-imperialist public sphere.

Contributors. Omar Dahbour, Ashley Dawson, Cynthia Enloe, Melani McAlister, Christian Parenti, Donald E. Pease, John Carlos Rowe, Malini Johar Schueller, Harilaos Stecopoulos

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From the Publisher:

"In this superb collection, leading theorists of cultural imperialism adroitly expose why neoliberalism is dangerously beguiling to a nation torn between fear of terrorism and desire to maintain superpower hegemony. Moving from powerful critiques to essays that empower resistance, this volume shows how historical accounts of U.S. imperialism can serve as enabling acts for a democratic future in the making."--Lee Quinby, author of Millennial Seduction: A Skeptic Confronts Apocalyptic Culture

"Exceptional State is a timely and important collection of essays, which together address crucial questions about change and continuity between the current imperial moment and the history of U.S. imperialism."--Amy Kaplan, coeditor of Cultures of United States Imperialism

From the Back Cover:

""Exceptional State" is a timely and important collection of essays which together address crucial questions about change and continuity between the current imperial moment and the history of U.S. imperialism."--Amy Kaplan, coeditor of "Cultures of United States Imperialism"

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