Synopses & Reviews
A definitive account of one of the most dominant trends in recent historical writing, The Cultural Turn in U.S. History takes stock of the field at the same time as it showcases exemplars of its practice.and#160;The first of this volumeand#8217;s three distinct sections offers a comprehensive genealogy of American cultural history, tracing its multifaceted origins, defining debates, and intersections with adjacent fields. The second section comprises previously unpublished essays by a distinguished roster of contributors who illuminate the disciplineand#8217;s rich potential by plumbing topics that range from nineteenth-century anxieties about greenback dollars to confidence games in 1920s Harlem, from Shirley Templeand#8217;s career to the story of a Chicano community in San Diego that created a public park under a local freeway. Featuring an equally wide ranging selection of pieces that meditate on the future of the field, the final section explores such subjects as the different strains of cultural history, its relationships with arenas from mass entertainment to public policy, and the ways it has been shaped by catastrophe. Taken together, these essays represent a watershed moment in the life of a discipline, harnessing its vitality to offer a glimpse of the shape it will take in years to come. and#160;
Review
“Boundaries of the State in US History contains cutting edge work on the nature of the American state. It explains how the United States managed to accomplish complex goals, such as distributing its western lands, without an elaborate bureaucratic apparatus. The contributors to this widely ranging book force us to rethink our fundamental notions of the American state, such as its weakness in comparison with European and other states. This collection will become indispensable to political scientists and historians alike.”
Review
“This resonant collection explores the varieties and powers of the US national state by taking its boundaries and limits seriously. Generating striking insights across a range of fundamental subjects, its thoughtful overviews and absorbing essays offer readers fresh understanding of deep-seated connections between political authority and both domestic society and basic global patterns.”
Review
“This outstanding collection captures the full breadth of exciting new work on the American state. The essays challenge us to think in novel and creative ways about the binaries—state and society, republic and empire, public and private, federal and local—that have profoundly shaped historical writing on this institution. They powerfully advance our ability to comprehend the possibilities and perils of democratic statecraft across the entire span of US history. A major achievement.”
Synopsis
A definitive account of one of the most dominant trends in recent historical writing, The Cultural Turn in U.S. History takes stock of the field at the same time as it showcases exemplars of its practice. The first of this volume's three distinct sections offers a comprehensive genealogy of American cultural history, tracing its multifaceted origins, defining debates, and intersections with adjacent fields. The second section comprises previously unpublished essays by a distinguished roster of contributors who illuminate the discipline's rich potential by plumbing topics that range from nineteenth-century anxieties about greenback dollars to confidence games in 1920s Harlem, from Shirley Temple's career to the story of a Chicano community in San Diego that created a public park under a local freeway. Featuring an equally wide ranging selection of pieces that meditate on the future of the field, the final section explores such subjects as the different strains of cultural history, its relationships with arenas from mass entertainment to public policy, and the ways it has been shaped by catastrophe. Taken together, these essays represent a watershed moment in the life of a discipline, harnessing its vitality to offer a glimpse of the shape it will take in years to come.
Synopsis
The question of how the American state defines its powernot what it is” but what it doeshas become central to a range of historical discourses, from the founding of the Republic and the role of the educational system, to the functions of agencies and Americas place in the world. Here, James Sparrow, William J. Novak, and Stephen Sawyer assemble some definitional work in this area, showing that the state is an integral actor in physical, spatial, and economic exercises of power. They further imply that traditional conceptions of the state cannot grasp the subtleties of power and its articulation. Contributors include C.J. Álvarez, Elisabeth Clemens, Richard John, Robert Lieberman, Omar McRoberts, Gautham Rao, Gabriel Rosenberg, Jason Scott Smith, Tracy Steffes, and the editors.
About the Author
James T. Sparrow is associate professor of history and master of the Collegiate Social Sciences Division at the University of Chicago. He is the author of
Warfare State: World War II Americans and the Age of Big Government.
William J. Novak is the Charles F. and Edith J. Clyne Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School. He is the author of
The People’s Welfare Law and editor of
The Democratic Experiment.
Stephen W. Sawyer is chair of the History Department and cofounder of the History, Law, and Society Program at the American University of Paris. He is the translator of Michel Foucault’s Wrong-Doing, Truth-Telling, also published by the University of Chicago Press.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Part I: Introduction
1and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Twelve Propositions for a History of U.S. Cultural History
James W. Cook and Lawrence B. Glickman
Part II: Practicing Cultural History
Introduction by Michael Oand#8217;Malley
2and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; A Native among the Headhunters
Ann Fabian
3and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Rags, Blacking, and Paper Soldiers: Money and Race in the Civil War
Michael Oand#8217;Malley
4and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; The Envelope, Please
Shane White, Stephen Garton, Stephen Robertson, and Graham White
5and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Re-membering John Dillinger
Elliott J. Gorn
6and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Behind Shirley Templeand#8217;s Smile: Children, Emotional Labor, and the Great Depression
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; John F. Kasson
7and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Gimme Shelter: Do-It-Yourself Defense and the Politics of Fear
Elaine Tyler May
8and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; and#8220;Be Real Black for Meand#8221;: Representation, Authenticity, and the Cultural Politics of Black Power
Waldo E. Martin Jr.
9and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Turning Structure into Culture: Reclaiming the Freeway in San Diegoand#8217;s Chicano Park
Eric Avila
Part III: Agendas for Cultural History
Introduction by Michael Oand#8217;Malley
10and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; The Return of the Culture Industry
James W. Cook
11and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; On Grief and Complicity: Notes toward a Visionary Cultural History
Nan Enstad
12and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; From Nation to Neighborhood: Land, Policy, Culture, Colonialism, and Empire in U.S.-Indian Relations
Philip J. Deloria
13and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Capitalism, Culture, and Catastrophe
Jean-Christophe Agnew
Part IV: Epilogue
14and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; The Art of Listening
Karen Halttunen
Notes on ContributorsIndex