The Post-Liberal Imagination Political Scenes from the American Cultural Landscape

by Baum, Bruce

• ISBN13: 9781137560322
• ISBN10: 1137560320
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2015-11-04
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

In The Post-Liberal Imagination, Bruce Baum approaches American liberalism in a critical spirit by examining the relationship between popular culture and politics in the Bush-Obama era. The book explores how contemporary popular culture plays a formative role in contemporary politics. Through analyzing movies, television, and popular music, the author discusses how these cultural productions illuminate notable political scenes of the American cultural landscape. In doing so, he provokes us to rethink liberal imaginings of democracy, equality, racism, dissent, and animals rights.

Author Biography

Bruce Baum is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of British Columbia, Canada and from Stamford, Connecticut, USA. He is the author of Rereading Power and Freedom in J.S. Mill (2000) and The Rise and Fall of the Caucasian Race: A Political History of Racial Identity (2006).

Table of Contents

PART I: INTRODUCTION
1. Keep on Rockin' in the Free World
2. 'Humpday,' 'Soul Power,' and the Politics of Hip
3. The Hero America Deserves? The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, and the Liberalism of Fear
4. Apes, Humans, and Other
PART II: ANIMALS: PROJECT NIM AND RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
5. Hollywood's Crisis of Capitalism: 'Inside Job' and 'The Company Men'
6. Occupy Wall Street, Steve Jobs's 'Genius,' and Mad Men: Reflections on the Democratic
PART III: IMAGINATION
7. Hollywood on Race in the Age of Obama
8. President Obama and the White Problem
Conclusion