Routledge The Body Politic: Foundings, Citizenship, and Difference in the American Political Imagination

Product Description This work advances an original thesis that challenges the dominant schools of thought concerning the liberal tradition in the US. Review "A polished work by a very capable, acute, and imaginative author." -- Anne Norton, University of Pennsylvania "This important work deserves the attention of everyone concerned with this crucial dimension in American political thought." -- Thomas Dumm, Amherst College "A bold, sweeping and unsettling vision of American thought and culture. Holland ranges across American time to demonstrate how body images haunt our politics. The Body Politic is a wonderful book -- full of shadow and paradox, irony and wisdom." -- James A. Morone, Professor of Political Science, Brown University "A brilliant exploration of the hidden contradictions in American political thought: nature doing the work of prejudice; government power smuggled into a liberal constitution; the rhetoric of a progressive future veiling carry-overs from the past. Anyone wishing to untangle the strands of patriarchy, liberalism, and ethnic identities-including those of a once dominant WASP elite-in the American skein should read this provocative study." -- Joyce Appleby, Professor of History, UCLA "Gallons of ink have been spilled analyzing and debating the liberal tradition in American politics. Many scholars believed there was nothing left to say, but Catherine Holland shows how wrong they were. This original and provocative reading of the founding and reconstruction uses insights gleaned from late modern social theory to dissect constructions of nation and of citizenship that were offered in these periods." -- Gretchen Ritter, Associate Professor of Government, University of Texas at Austin "A bold, sweeping and unsettling vision of American thought and culture. Holland ranges across American time to demonstrate how body images haunt our politics. The Body Politic is a wonderful book -- full of shadow and paradox, irony and wisdom." -- James A. Morone, Professor of Political Science, Brown University About the Author Catherine Holland is an Assistant Professor of Political Science and Women's Studies at the University of Missouri.