Flagging Patriotism

<p>The question "Why do they hate us?" is one of the most oft-cited puzzles of contemporary American affairs, yet it’s not clear to whom "they" or "us" refers, nor even what "hate" means. In this bold new work, Ella Shohat and Robert Stam take apart the "hate discourse" of right-wing politics, placing it in an international context. How, for example, do other nations love themselves, and how is that love connected to their attitudes toward America? Is love of country "monogamous" or can one love many countries? When can a country’s self-love be a symptom of self-hatred? </p><p>Drawing upon their extensive experience with South American, European, and Middle Eastern societies, the authors have written a long engagement with a problem that refuses to go away. <em>Flagging Patriotism</em> considers these complex features of "being patriotic," and in so doing insists that the idea of patriotism, instead of being rejected or embraced, be accorded the complex identity it possesses.</p> Preface: Love, Hate, and the Nation-State I. On Narcissism and Exceptionalism Patriotism: Myths that Bind and Blind The Angels, and Devils, of History U.S. Exceptionalism: The City on the Hill French Exceptionalism: Grandeur and la Mission Civilisatrice Exceptionalism Light: God is Brazilian II. Variations on an Anti-American Theme Sibling Rivalries: Anti-Americanism in France L’Obsession: Anti-Americanism after 9/11 Imaginary Tribes: the Anglo-Saxons Brazil and the Collosus to the North The View from the South From Francophilia to Francophobia Anti-French Hysteria and the American Right Anti-Semitism, Misogny, and the NeoCons III. Discrepant Histories of Citizenship New Debates about Old Revolutions In the Name of God and the Republic Foundational Contradictions Citizenship in Brazil Constitutions and their Discontents The Crisis of American Freedom Disjunctive Democracy IV. Political Sense, Cultural Nonsense Return to Exceptionalism: Socialism in America The Protestant Ethic/Ethnic Misreading American Religion Anglo-Saxons: the Sequel Les Mains Salles, or Dirty Hands Submerged Narcissisms Anti-Americanism: Dumb and Smart Imrika Watani: An Arab-American Dirge for 9/11 V. Contemporary Politics and the Crisis of Democracy Pricks and Wimps The Fine Art of Lying Fear, Catharsis and the Daily Show Sodomy, Sadism, and the Christian Right Patriotic Blackmail The Pentagonization of Patriotism The Demise of Reciprocity The Illiberal Media The Wages of Exceptionalism VI. None Dare Call it Patriotism The Contradictions of the Right Wrestling with Patriotism Why The Superpatriots are Not Patriots Patriotic Fictions Patriotism and the Pursuit of Happiness Conclusion Notes Index