Slow Anti-Americanism
Social Movements and Symbolic Politics in Central Asia
Published on 26. January 2021
Book
Paperback/Softback
232 pages
978-1-5036-1432-1 (ISBN)
Description
Negative views of the United States abound, but we know too little about how such views affect politics. Drawing on careful research on post-Soviet Central Asia, Edward Schatz argues that anti-Americanism is best seen not as a rising tide that swamps or as a conflagration that overwhelms. Rather, "America" is a symbolic resource that resides quietly in the mundane but always has potential value for social and political mobilizers. Using a wide range of evidence and a novel analytic framework, Schatz considers how Islamist movements, human rights activists, and labor mobilizers across Central Asia avail themselves of this fact, thus changing their ability to pursue their respective agendas. By refocusing our analytic gaze away from high politics, he affords us a clearer view of the slower-moving, partially occluded, and socially embedded processes that ground how "America" becomes political. In turn, we gain a nuanced appreciation of the downstream effects of US foreign policy choices and a sober sense of the challenges posed by the politics of traveling images.
Most treatments of anti-Americanism focus on politics in the realm of presidential elections and foreign policies. By focusing instead on symbols, Schatz lays bare how changing public attitudes shift social relations in politically significant ways, and considers how changing symbolic depictions of the United States recombine the raw material available for social mobilizers. Just like sediment traveling along waterways before reaching its final destination, the raw material that constitutes symbolic America can travel among various social groups, and can settle into place to form the basis of new social meanings. Symbolic America, Schatz shows us, matters for politics in Central Asia and beyond.
Most treatments of anti-Americanism focus on politics in the realm of presidential elections and foreign policies. By focusing instead on symbols, Schatz lays bare how changing public attitudes shift social relations in politically significant ways, and considers how changing symbolic depictions of the United States recombine the raw material available for social mobilizers. Just like sediment traveling along waterways before reaching its final destination, the raw material that constitutes symbolic America can travel among various social groups, and can settle into place to form the basis of new social meanings. Symbolic America, Schatz shows us, matters for politics in Central Asia and beyond.
Reviews / Votes
"Fresh, strikingly original, and with the wisdom of the long view, Slow Anti-Americanism compellingly shows the slow-burning complexities of anti-Americanism. Edward Schatz's careful observations offer critical guidance to scholars and policymakers about what America stands for in Central Asia and beyond."-Alexander Cooley, Columbia University "Relying on geological metaphors and the analysis of symbolic politics, Edward Schatz offers a theoretically nuanced and empirically innovative study of anti-Americanism in Central Asia. Slow Anti-Americanism is a valuable addition to a literature that is, once again, of growing importance in the analysis of U.S. foreign policy and world politics."-Peter J. Katzenstein, Cornell University "Edward Schatz looks at how negative perceptions of America conditioned the long-term success or failure of domestic political movements abroad. Turning the topic inside out on the strategic terrain of central Asia, this brilliant book heralds a paradigm shift in the study of public diplomacy. It deserves a large audience."-Alex Langstaff, International Affairs "Those interested in reflecting on the recent history of America's reputation abroad and what should be done differently in the future will want to readSlow Anti-Americanism... It takes readers far from the headspace of the foreign policy community and into the lives of activists and ordinary people in a part of the world where the reputation of the United States has changed greatly over the last 30 years." -Laura Adams, the Oxus Society for Central Asian Affairs "Whereas scholars have tended to view anti-Americanism as either a psychological or a cultural 'clash of civilizations' phenomenon, Edward Schatz looks at how negative perceptions of America conditioned the long-term success or failure of domestic political movements abroad. Turning the topic inside out on the strategic terrain of central Asia, this brilliant book heralds a paradigm shift in the study of public diplomacy. It deserves a large audience."-Alex Langstaff, International Affairs "Schatz's Slow Anti-Americanism is a much-needed book about how Central Asian societies shape the view of the United States and America. A spoiler-in the book, the two are not the same, with America being a symbol that represents much more than just a country."-Emil Nasritdinov, Central Asian AffairsMore details
Edition
New edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Palo Alto
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Edition type
New edition
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
4 tables, 9 halftones
Dimensions
Height: 226 mm
Width: 150 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
318 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-5036-1432-1 (9781503614321)
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
Person
Edward Schatz is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Toronto. His previous books include Paradox of Power: The Logics of State Weakness in Eurasia (2017) and Political Ethnography: What Immersion Contributes to the Study of Power (2009).
Content
Introduction: Slow Anti-Americanism
1. America's Changing Image
2. Islamist Trajectories
3. Human Rights Trajectories
4. Labor, Disorganized
Conclusion: Shaping the Slow Politics of Anti-Americanism
1. America's Changing Image
2. Islamist Trajectories
3. Human Rights Trajectories
4. Labor, Disorganized
Conclusion: Shaping the Slow Politics of Anti-Americanism