Overview

Democracy is venerated in US political culture, in part because it is our democracy. As a result, we assume that the government and institutions of the United States represent the true and right form of democracy, needed by all. This volume challenges this commonplace belief by putting US politics in the context of the Americas more broadly. Seeking to cultivate conversations among and between the hemispheres, this collection examines local political rhetorics across the Americas. The contributors—scholars of communication from both North and South America—recognize democratic ideals as irreducible to a single national perspective and reflect on the ways social minorities in the Western Hemisphere engage in unique political discourses. The essays consider current rhetorics in the United States on American exceptionalism, immigration, citizenship, and land rights alongside current cultural and political events in Latin America, such as corruption in Guatemala, women’s activism in Ciudad Juárez, representation in Venezuela, and media bias in Brazil. Through a survey of these rhetorics, this volume provides a broad analysis of democracy. It highlights institutional and cultural differences in the Americas and presents a hemispheric democracy that is both more pluralistic and more agonistic than what is believed about the system in the United States. In addition to the editors, the contributors include José Cortez, Linsay M. Cramer, Pamela Flores, Alberto González, Amy N. Heuman, Christa J. Olson, Carlos Piovezani, Clara Eugenia Rojas Blanco, Abraham Romney, René Agustín de los Santos, and Alejandra Vitale.

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Reviews

With an impressive diversity of both topics and authors, Rhetorics of Democracy in the Americas invites readers to consider the structural determinants as well as living habits of twenty-first-century politics. Angel, Butterworth, and Gomez demonstrate leadership in intellectual and disciplinary ways, bringing scholars together and suggesting with notable hope the future of international collaborations. This rich and deeply grounded collection courageously directs attention to the racial and class-based struggles that continue to challenge the Americas. -E. Johanna Hartelius, editor of The Rhetorics of US Immigration: Identity, Community, Otherness Rhetorics of Democracy in the Americas is a shining example of why we need to think about god-concepts like democracy across space and time through transnational analysis. Rather than assume the naturalness of the nation-state borders in South, Central, and North America, the authors denaturalize them, telling the stories of their emergence and of how the presence of borders and the relationalities between these borders now shapes what democracy looks like and can be. -Sara McKinnon, author of Gendered Asylum: Race and Violence in U.S. Law and Politics

“With an impressive diversity of both topics and authors, Rhetorics of Democracy in the Americas invites readers to consider the structural determinants as well as living habits of twenty-first-century politics. Angel, Butterworth, and Gómez demonstrate leadership in intellectual and disciplinary ways, bringing scholars together and suggesting with notable hope the future of international collaborations. This rich and deeply grounded collection courageously directs attention to the racial and class-based struggles that continue to challenge the Americas.” —E. Johanna Hartelius, editor of The Rhetorics of US Immigration: Identity, Community, Otherness “Rhetorics of Democracy in the Americas is a shining example of why we need to think about god-concepts like democracy across space and time through transnational analysis. Rather than assume the naturalness of the nation-state borders in South, Central, and North America, the authors denaturalize them, telling the stories of their emergence and of how the presence of borders and the relationalities between these borders now shapes what democracy looks like and can be.” —Sara McKinnon, author of Gendered Asylum: Race and Violence in U.S. Law and Politics

Author Information

Adriana Angel is Associate Professor of Communication at Universidad de la Sabana, Colombia. Michael L. Butterworth is Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. Nancy R. Gómez is Professor of Communication at Universidad del Norte, Colombia.

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