Rhetorics of Democracy in the Americas
Published on 17. February 2021
Book
Hardback
288 pages
978-0-271-08932-4 (ISBN)
Description
Democracy is venerated in US political culture, in part because it is our democracy. As a result, we assume that the government and institutions of the United States represent the true and right form of democracy, needed by all. This volume challenges this commonplace belief by putting US politics in the context of the Americas more broadly.
Seeking to cultivate conversations among and between the hemispheres, this collection examines local political rhetorics across the Americas. The contributors-scholars of communication from both North and South America-recognize democratic ideals as irreducible to a single national perspective and reflect on the ways social minorities in the Western Hemisphere engage in unique political discourses. The essays consider current rhetorics in the United States on American exceptionalism, immigration, citizenship, and land rights alongside current cultural and political events in Latin America, such as corruption in Guatemala, women's activism in Ciudad Juarez, representation in Venezuela, and media bias in Brazil. Through a survey of these rhetorics, this volume provides a broad analysis of democracy. It highlights institutional and cultural differences in the Americas and presents a hemispheric democracy that is both more pluralistic and more agonistic than what is believed about the system in the United States.
In addition to the editors, the contributors include Jose Cortez, Linsay M. Cramer, Pamela Flores, Alberto Gonzalez, Amy N. Heuman, Christa J. Olson, Carlos Piovezani, Clara Eugenia Rojas Blanco, Abraham Romney, Rene Agustin de los Santos, and Alejandra Vitale.
Seeking to cultivate conversations among and between the hemispheres, this collection examines local political rhetorics across the Americas. The contributors-scholars of communication from both North and South America-recognize democratic ideals as irreducible to a single national perspective and reflect on the ways social minorities in the Western Hemisphere engage in unique political discourses. The essays consider current rhetorics in the United States on American exceptionalism, immigration, citizenship, and land rights alongside current cultural and political events in Latin America, such as corruption in Guatemala, women's activism in Ciudad Juarez, representation in Venezuela, and media bias in Brazil. Through a survey of these rhetorics, this volume provides a broad analysis of democracy. It highlights institutional and cultural differences in the Americas and presents a hemispheric democracy that is both more pluralistic and more agonistic than what is believed about the system in the United States.
In addition to the editors, the contributors include Jose Cortez, Linsay M. Cramer, Pamela Flores, Alberto Gonzalez, Amy N. Heuman, Christa J. Olson, Carlos Piovezani, Clara Eugenia Rojas Blanco, Abraham Romney, Rene Agustin de los Santos, and Alejandra Vitale.
Reviews / Votes
"Rhetorics of Democracy in the Americas offers a valuable lesson. When contending with the Americas, rhetoric, and/or democracy, an investigation of the Idea of the Americas is fundamental to an understanding of what haunts us in the present, essential to the projects of unsettling the 'settler' as a system, and consubstantial for rethinking rhetoric [and] democracy."-Romeo Garcia The Quarterly Journal of Speech "With an impressive diversity of both topics and authors, Rhetorics of Democracy in the Americas invites readers to consider the structural determinants as well as living habits of twenty-first-century politics. Angel, Butterworth, and Gomez demonstrate leadership in intellectual and disciplinary ways, bringing scholars together and suggesting with notable hope the future of international collaborations. This rich and deeply grounded collection courageously directs attention to the racial and class-based struggles that continue to challenge the Americas."
-E. Johanna Hartelius, editor of The Rhetorics of US Immigration: Identity, Community, Otherness "Rhetorics of Democracy in the Americas is a shining example of why we need to think about god-concepts like democracy across space and time through transnational analysis. Rather than assume the naturalness of the nation-state borders in South, Central, and North America, the authors denaturalize them, telling the stories of their emergence and of how the presence of borders and the relationalities between these borders now shapes what democracy looks like and can be."
-Sara McKinnon, author of Gendered Asylum: Race and Violence in U.S. Law and Politics
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
University Park
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Illustrations
0 Illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
625 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-271-08932-4 (9780271089324)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Adriana Angel is Associate Professor of Communication at Universidad de la Sabana, Colombia.
Michael L. Butterworth is Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Texas at Austin.
Nancy R. Gomez is Professor of Communication at Universidad del Norte, Colombia.
Michael L. Butterworth is Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Texas at Austin.
Nancy R. Gomez is Professor of Communication at Universidad del Norte, Colombia.