Overview
In this provocative book, Mugambi Jouet describes why Americans are far more divided than other Westerners over basic issues, including wealth inequality, health care, climate change, evolution, gender roles, abortion, gay rights, sex, gun control, mass incarceration, the death penalty, torture, human rights, and war. Raised in Paris by a French mother and Kenyan father, Jouet then lived in the Bible Belt, Manhattan, and beyond. Drawing inspiration from Alexis de Tocqueville, he wields his multicultural sensibility to parse how the intense polarization of U.S. conservatives and liberals has become a key dimension of American exceptionalism--an idea widely misunderstood as American superiority. While exceptionalism once was a source of strength, it may now spell decline, as unique features of U.S. history, politics, law, culture, religion, and race relations foster grave conflicts. They also shed light on the intriguing ideological evolution of American conservatism, which long predated Trumpism. Anti-intellectualism, conspiracy-mongering, a visceral suspicion of government, and Christian fundamentalism are far more common in America than the rest of the Western world--Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
Full Product Details
Author: Mugambi Jouet ,
Mirron Willis
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Imprint: Tantor Audio
Edition: Unabridged edition
ISBN: 9781665243766
ISBN 10: 1665243767
Publication Date: 28 November 2017
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Audio
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Available To Order
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Reviews
Thought-provoking. . . . Jouet was raised in Paris by a French mother and a Kenyan father, and he tackles his subject with a multicultural point of view, considering anti-intellectualism, fundamentalism, sex and gender roles and the politics of mass incarceration.-- The Mercury News
"Thought-provoking. . . . Jouet was raised in Paris by a French mother and a Kenyan father, and he tackles his subject with a multicultural point of view, considering anti-intellectualism, fundamentalism, sex and gender roles and the politics of mass incarceration.-- ""The Mercury News"""
Author Information
An author specialized on the intriguing evolution of American democracy, politics, and culture, Mugambi Jouet teaches at Stanford Law School. His articles have notably been featured in Mother Jones, the New Republic, Slate, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Huffington Post, the Hill, Liberation, Le Nouvel Observateur, and Le Monde, France's flagship newspaper. Raised in Paris by a French mother and Kenyan father, Jouet then lived in the Bible Belt, Manhattan, and beyond. Drawing inspiration from Alexis de Tocqueville and his multicultural background, Jouet's writing explores what distinguishes America from the rest of the world, for better or worse. Mirron Willis is a talented actor whose credits include theater, film, and television. His recordings include the Odyssey Honor award winner Elijah of Buxton by Paul Christopher Curtis; Sixty Feet, Sixty Inches by Bob Gibson, Reggie Jackson, and Lonnie Wheeler; Sag Harbor by Colson Whitehead; Invisible Life, Basketball Jones, and I Say A Little Prayer by E. Lynn Harris. Mirron is the recipient of numerous Earphone Awards and has recorded many works by Walter Mosley and Orson Scott Card.
