“After Empire offers both an analysis of contemporary US war culture and an intervention into it in the hope of making the US a healthier democracy. Focusing on the intersection of politics, popular culture, and myth, and deftly integrating theory, method, and substantive content, Ivie and Giner provide a map of the current US public sphere in ways that will interest academics as well as practitioners and prove useful for courses in rhetoric, history, and political science.”
—Mary E. Stuckey, Edwin Erle Sparks
Professor of Communication Arts & Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park
After Empire offers both an analysis of contemporary US war culture and an intervention into it in the hope of making the US a healthier democracy. Focusing on the intersection of politics, popular culture, and myth, and deftly integrating theory, method, and substantive content, Ivie and Giner provide a map of the current US public sphere in ways that will interest academics as well as practitioners and prove useful for courses in rhetoric, history, and political science.
Mary E. Stuckey, Edwin Erle Sparks
Professor of Communication Arts & Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park
“In After Empire: Myth, Rhetoric, and Democratic Revival, Robert L. Ivie and Oscar Giner unpack the way that contemporary American myths of war have played a role in legitimizing war and creating an American empire built around a militarized society. They show that creation of an alternative mythology privileging dissent is essential to rebuilding American democracy. The book is cogently argued, based on ground-breaking research on myth and militarism, and a genuine pleasure to read!”
—Robert C. Rowland
Professor, Department of Communication Studies, University of Kansas
After Empire chronicles America’s addiction to war-in-the-name-of-peace, wherein the military-industrial complex entwines with crippling national mythologies. Drs. Ivie and Giner argue that by seeing the world as a series of threats, our imaginations have shriveled, leaving us rotating from self-righteous exceptionalism to other-fearing doubts. Moving past that dynamic, the authors plot a „passage to democracy,“ where the nation grows out of imperial hubris and into mature, deliberative democracy. Stephen J. Hartnett, Professor, Department of Communication, University of Colorado, Denver
In After Empire: Myth, Rhetoric, and Democratic Revival, Robert L. Ivie and Oscar Giner unpack the way that contemporary American myths of war have played a role in legitimizing war and creating an American empire built around a militarized society. They show that creation of an alternative mythology privileging dissent is essential to rebuilding American democracy. The book is cogently argued, based on groundbreaking research on myth and militarism, and a genuine pleasure to read! Robert C. Rowland, Professor, Department of Communication Studies, University of Kansas
After Empire offers both an analysis of contemporary US war culture and an intervention into it in the hope of making the US a healthier democracy. Focusing on the intersection of politics, popular culture, and myth, and deftly integrating theory, method, and substantive content, Ivie and Giner provide a map of the current US public sphere in ways that will interest academics as well as practitioners and prove useful for courses in rhetoric, history, and political science. Mary E. Stuckey, Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Communication Arts & Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park
