America's Addiction to Terrorism

by Henry A. Giroux

Overview

In the United States today, the term "terrorism" conjures up images of dangerous, outside threats: religious extremists and suicide bombers in particular. Harder to see but all the more pervasive is the terrorism perpetuated by the United States itself, whether through military force overseas or woven into the very fabric of society at home. Henry Giroux, in this passionate and incisive book, turns the conventional wisdom on terrorism upside down, demonstrating how fear and lawlessness have become organizing principles of life in the United States, and violence an acceptable form of social mediation. He addresses the most pressing issues of the moment, from officially sanctioned torture to militarized police forces to austerity politics. Giroux also examines the ongoing degradation of the education system and how young people in particular suffer its more nefarious outcomes. Against this grim picture, Giroux posits a politics of hope and a commitment to accurate-and radical-historical memory. He draws on a long, distinguished career developing the tenets of critical pedagogy to propose a cure for our addiction to terrorism: a kind of "public pedagogy" that challenges the poisoned narratives of "America's dis-imagination machine."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781583675700
Publisher:	Monthly Review Press
Publication date:	12/22/2015
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Henry A. Giroux is a social critic and educator. He currently holds the Global Television Network Chair in Communication Studies at McMaster University, Ontario.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments 7

Foreword Michael D. Yates 8

Introduction: The Neoliberal Reign of Terror 16

1 America's Addiction to Torture 46

2 Terrorizing the Self: Seine Culture in the Age of Corporate and State Surveillance 63

3 Death-Dealing Politics in the Age of Extreme Violence 79

4 Class Warfare and the Advance of Austerity Policies under the New Authoritarianism 98

5 Racism, Violence, and Militarized Terror in the Age of Disposability 109

6 The Fire This Time: Black Youth and the Spectacle of Post-Racial Violence 124

7 Higher Education Under Siege and the Promise of Insurgent Public Memory 146

8 Academic Terrorism, Exile, and the Possibility of Classroom Grace 168

9 Barbarians at the Gates: Authoritarianism and the Assault of Public Education 184

10 Hollywood Heroism in the Age of Empire: From Citizen/our and Selma to American Sniper 199

11 Hiroshima, Intellectuals, and the Crisis of Terrorism 215

12 Flipping the Script: Rethinking Working-Class Resistance in the Age of Terrorism 239

Notes 249

Index 281