Sign-In
Cart
Invoking the Fathers: Dangerous Metaphors and Founding Myths in Congressional Politics
Hardcover
General Political ScienceRevolutionary Period (1775-1800)United States Politics
ISBN13: 9781421449739
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
Published: Sep 17 2024
Pages: 280
Weight: 1.27
Height: 0.75 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
Why is the metaphor of the Founding Fathers so insidious--and how does it impact American politics?
American politicians routinely invoke the metaphor of the Founding Fathers when referring to the men who supposedly set the United States on a path to greatness. On average, the term Founding Fathers is uttered by a congressional member every single day that Congress is in session. Why is this metaphor repeated constantly--and what effect does it have on policy? In Invoking the Fathers, communication scholar Sarah Kornfield links this rhetorical strategy to the rise of patriarchal white supremacy and Christian nationalism in the United States.
Using the House and the Senate as the objects of her study, Kornfield traces the trope of fatherhood across congressional discourse and theorizes a rhetoric of sovereignty in which the founders' most obvious heirs--white Christian men--inherit America and its governance. Congressional politicians use this metaphor in four ways: to supposedly advocate for rights and liberties, to demand checks and balances, to celebrate American exceptionalism, and to call for bipartisan politics. These four situations are all, at their core, disputes over what kind of nation America is or should be.
Metaphors are not harmless, Kornfield argues, and this one is particularly pernicious: the fatherhood metaphor is taken up and violently embodied by men's rights groups, white supremacist groups, and Christian nationalists. Ultimately, the book demonstrates how this gendered metaphor creates and reinforces a legislative system in which some are considered more equal than others.
Also in
General Political Science
Solidarity: The Past, Present, and Future of a World-Changing Idea
Taylor, Astra
Hunt-Hendrix, Leah
Hardcover
Capitalism and the Camera: Essays on Photography and Extraction
Coleman, Kevin
James, Daniel
Paperback
The Craftivist Collective Handbook: Projects, Stories and Methods for Your Gentle Protests
Corbett, Sarah P.
Hardcover
Guerrilleros and Neighbours in Arms: Identities & Cultures of Anti-Fascist Resistance in Spain
Marco
Paperback
Battling the Big Lie: How Fox, Facebook, and the Maga Media Are Destroying America
Pfeiffer, Dan
Hardcover
Urban Revolutions: Urbanisation and (Neo-)Colonialism in Transatlantic Context
Kipfer, Stefan
Paperback
Nonstate Warfare: The Military Methods of Guerillas, Warlords, and Militias
Biddle, Stephen
Hardcover
By the Light of Burning Dreams: The Triumphs and Tragedies of the Second American Revolution
Talbot, Margaret
Talbot, David
Hardcover
An Enemy Such as This: Larry Casuse and the Fight for Native Liberation in One Family on Two Continents Over Three Centuries
Correia, David
Hardcover
Turning the Tide: U.S. Intervention in Central America and the Struggle for Peace
Chomsky, Noam
Paperback
Democracy Incorporated: Managed Democracy and the Specter of Inverted Totalitarianism
Wolin, Sheldon S.
Paperback
The Persuaders: At the Front Lines of the Fight for Hearts, Minds, and Democracy
Giridharadas, Anand
Hardcover
Grassroots Rising: A Call to Action on Climate, Farming, Food, and a Green New Deal
Cummins, Ronnie
Paperback
Everyday Life and Politics in Nineteenth Century Mexico: Men, Women, and War
Wasserman, Mark
Paperback
Broken News: Why the Media Rage Machine Divides America and How to Fight Back
Stirewalt, Chris
Paperback
With Liberty and Justice for Some: How the Law Is Used to Destroy Equality and Protect the Powerful
Greenwald, Glenn
Hardcover
Doing History from the Bottom Up: On E.P. Thompson, Howard Zinn, and Rebuilding the Labor Movement from Below
Lynd, Staughton
Paperback
China Wakes: The Struggle for the Soul of a Rising Power
Kristof, Nicholas D.
Wudunn, Sheryl
Paperback
The Clash of Globalizations: Neo-Liberalism, the Third Way and Anti-Globalization
Kiely, Ray
Paperback
Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump
Haberman, Maggie
Swan, Jonathan
Hardcover
The U.S. Constitution: A Comprehensive and Annotated Guide for the Modern Reader
Murray, Melissa
Hardcover
Separation of Church and Hate: A Sane Person's Guide to Taking Back the Bible from Fundamentalists, Fascists, and Flock-Fleecing Frauds
Fugelsang, John
Hardcover
American Scoundrel: Roy Cohn's Dark Journey from Joe McCarthy to Donald Trump
Bird, Kai
Goldmark, Susan
Hardcover
The College Scam: How America's Universities Are Bankrupting and Brainwashing Away the Future of America's Youth
Kirk, Charlie
Hardcover
Live Laugh Love: The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They Made
Kobes Du Mez, Kristin
Hardcover
American Struggle: Democracy, Dissent, and the Pursuit of a More Perfect Union: An Anthology
Meacham, Jon
Hardcover
Ordinary People, Extraordinary Times: How to Reclaim Your Power, Fight for Freedom, and Reimagine Democracy
Perryman, Skye
Paperback
The Hundred Years' War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917-2017
Khalidi, Rashid
Paperback
The Elijah Mandate: A Call to Courageous Faith in a Hostile World
Piflaks, Tolik
Tsarfati, Amir
Paperback
The Crooked Places Made Straight: Reflections on the Moral Meaning of America
Warnock, Raphael G.
Hardcover
Into the Wood Chipper: A Whistleblower's Account of How the Trump Administration Shredded Usaid
Enrich, Nicholas
Hardcover
The Lost Founder: James Wilson and the Forgotten Fight for a People's Constitution
Wegman, Jesse
Hardcover
The Invisible Coup: How American Elites and Foreign Powers Use Immigration as a Weapon
Schweizer, Peter
Hardcover
Last Branch Standing: A Potentially Surprising, Occasionally Witty Journey Inside Today's Supreme Court
Isgur, Sarah
Hardcover
The Counterrevolution: The Fall and Rise of Donald Trump and the Maga Movement
Hanson, Victor Davis
Hardcover
The Jakarta Method: Washington's Anticommunist Crusade and the Mass Murder Program That Shaped Our World
Bevins, Vincent
Paperback
There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America (Pulitzer Prize Winner)
Goldstone, Brian
Paperback
If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies: Why Superhuman AI Would Kill Us All
Yudkowsky, Eliezer
Soares, Nate
Hardcover
Country of Lords: Neo-Aristocrats, Social Darwinists, Tech Utopians, and the Long Fight Against Equality in America
Phillips-Fein, Kim
Hardcover
Wtf America?!: The Way Out of This Hell and Back to Democracy
Meiselas, Ben
Meiselas, Brett
Meiselas, Jordy
Hardcover
There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America (Pulitzer Prize Winner)
Goldstone, Brian
Hardcover
The Origins of Totalitarianism: With a New Introduction by Anne Applebaum
Arendt, Hannah
Applebaum, Anne
Paperback
Fear and Fury: The Reagan Eighties, the Bernie Goetz Shootings, and the Rebirth of White Rage
Thompson, Heather Ann
Hardcover
The Steal: Four Right-Wing Hard-Liners, One Republican Presidency, and the Raid on America's Courts
Wagner, Alex
Hardcover