Saving the Security State

“In this important book Inderpal Grewal shows how the idea of the exceptional American citizen has emerged to replace the exceptional state. The improvement of self and racial Others, the oldest colonial game, now comes dressed up in late twentieth-century feminist clothing, making feminism itself an imperial formation. Tracing the emergence of the exceptional citizen through saving and surveillance, Grewal highlights how empire today is made possible, as it always has been, through the operation of patriarchy.” - Sherene Razack, author of Dying from Improvement: Inquests and Inquiries into Indigenous Deaths in Custody

“This electrifying book makes a crucial contribution to feminist theory, the study of transnational capitalism, and the history of the security state. Thinking through the position of women and children, the construction of masculinities and patriarchy, and the complicity of certain forms of feminism, Inderpal Grewal offers an expansive, passionate critique of the United States as a global power. Timely, impressively researched, and brilliantly argued, Saving the Security State powerfully speaks to our moment.” - Melani McAlister, author of Epic Encounters: Culture, Media, and U.S. Interests in the Middle East since 1945

"[Grewal] expertly demonstrates how, whether via militarism or humanitarianism, with both always racialized, the exceptional citizen labors to uphold US empire and the exceptionalism that justifies and rationalizes it."  - Jennifer Kelly, Radical History Review

"In this book, Grewal captures—through her multidisciplinary engagement with the key features of early twenty-first-century American political life—something important and troubling about the odd state of affairs in which we find ourselves here in the post-9/11 digital age. . . . This is a bold, brave, and forthright book." - Tina Fernandes Botts, Hypatia Reviews Online

"[This book] deserves to find its way onto the reading lists of university departments for a variety of subjects. . . a tour de force." - Columba Achilleos-Sarll, International Feminist Journal of Politics

"This book is a carefully crafted volume, with most impressive documentation, a critical contribution that explains the pervasiveness of the 'security mom' and its complement, a fascist near-future." - Daniel Zirker, Australasian Journal of American Studies

"Saving the Security State is a fascinating, nuanced study of a topic that possesses an enormous amount of importance in contemporary society. ... Grewal’s focus on exceptional citizenship and American imperialisms at home and abroad make[s] this book exceptional." - Joseph Michael Gratale, European Journal of American Culture