The Truth about Patriotism

“The Truth about Patriotism will engage the reader in meaningful thought and reflection on a core political issue. He compels the serious reader to question the roots and role of patriotism in today’s political culture. Academics and graduate-level students of political theory and ethics will find this to be stimulating, thought-provoking, and intellectually rewarding reading.” - Peter J. Bergerson, Perspectives on Political Science

“In the past decade or so, the intellectual Left in America has sought to recapture patriotism for the project of democratic renewal. . . . The Truth about Patriotism seeks to repudiate this project by revealing the animosity and narcissism underpinning the cult of patriotism. . . . What is original about the work is not the critique of patriotism per se, but the creative manner in which the author broadens the discussion, moving away from political texts to include forms of cultural production such as film, music and the architecture of memorials and statues.” - Tim Dunne, Times Higher Education

“Johnston offers up a strong dissection of what we profess to believe and how we act toward our own country . . . . This is an incisive and demanding work that challenges a number of core assumptions about history and the role it plays in shaping the critical analysis that is fundamental to a fully functioning democracy. Recommended.” - K. Anderson, Choice

“Johnston, in showing how patriotism subverts democracy, provides a critical intervention for America’s post-9/11 political discourse. . . . [Johnston] contour[s] new possibilities for translocal and transnational political projects.” - Elisabeth Anker, Political Theory

“The inclusion of the word 'truth' in the title of Steven Johnston's book The Truth About Patriotism suggests that what we know of patriotism is perhaps not the total or complete story. What Johnston does in his new book is not to suggest that we do not know the whole story. Rather, he argues that, in thinking about patriotism, it might be useful to move beyond exploring how patriotism might be reinvigorated or made radical and, instead, start to develop hypotheses that frame patriotism as an impossibility or irredeemable.” - Catriona Elder, Australian Journal of Political Science

"[The] three chapters on architecture should be read by anyone interested in pondering issues of patriotism in the context of American public space." - Peter A. Furia, Political Science Quarterly

“Have you become wary of how benign patriotism is invoked to counter bellicose patriotism? In this book Steven Johnston shows you why that wariness is well grounded. He explains the traps attached to benign patriotism, and he presents an alternative suited to democratic life. An indispensable book for a post-Bush era.” - William E. Connolly, author of Capitalism and Christianity, American Style

“This courageous book directly confronts a political impulse—patriotism—that has been a largely unchallenged cornerstone of American culture and, at the same time, an integral strategy for the deployment of hatred and resentment that threatens the democratic enterprise. Drawing on diverse sources (intellectual and popular; contemporary, historical, and classical), Steven Johnston questions the very possibility of a coherent American patriotism.” - William Chaloupka, Colorado State University