American idyll : academic antielitism as cultural critique
"In a bold thought experiment that revives and defends Richard Hofstadter's theories of anti-intellectualism in American life, Liu asks, 'What if cultural populism had been the consensus politics of the past three decades?' By unpacking the disciplinary formation and academic ambitions of American cultural studies, Liu uncovers the genealogy of the current antielitism, placing the populism that dominates headlines within a broad historical context. In the process, she emphasizes the relevance of the historical origins of populist revolt against finance capital and its political influence. American Idyll reveals the unlikely alliance between American pragmatism and proponents of the Frankfurt School and argues for the importance of broad frames of historical thinking in encouraging robust academic debate within democratic institutions." -- Book Cover
Print Book, English, ©2011
University of Iowa Press, Iowa City, ©2011