Citizens of the Empire: The Struggle to Claim Our Humanity

by Robert Jensen

Overview

Citizens of the Empire probes into the sense of disempowerment that has resulted from the Left's inability to halt the violent and repressive course of post-9/11 U.S. policy. In this passionate and personal exploration of what it means to be a citizen of the world's most powerful, affluent, and militarized nation in an era of imperial expansion, Jensen offers a potent antidote to despair over the future of democracy.

In a plainspoken analysis of the dominant political rhetoric-which is intentionally crafted to depress political discourse and activism-Jensen reveals the contradictions and falsehoods of prevailing myths, using common-sense analogies that provide the reader with a clear-thinking rebuttal and a way to move forward with progressive political work and discussions.

With an ethical framework that integrates political, intellectual, and emotional responses to the disheartening events of the past two years, Jensen examines the ways in which society has been led to this point and offers renewed hope for constructive engagement.

Praise for Citizens of the Empire:

"He couples his opinions with a solution for those progressive thinkers who want to help, making the book a sort of handbook for people who are looking for new ways to engage fully in the democratic process of citizenship."—Publishers Weekly

" . . . a small, thoughtful, eminently accessible book, Citizens of the Empire is intended to be a citizen's manual of sorts, an encouragement to a thinking, effective electorate. Jensen's message is meant to be one of optimism, an antidote to the resignation and despair about the future of democracy in the face of increasingly mindless group-think on the part of the electorate and unresponsive policy-making on the part of their elected leaders. The conclusion of this slim volume is to urge the reader, whether or not s/he shares Jensen’s political views, to get up and get actively engaged, to reclaim the rights of a citizen of this country, and of the world, in a decisive election year."—Chapel Hill News

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780872864320
Publisher:	City Lights Books
Publication date:	04/01/2004
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.20(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Robert Jensen is a professor of media law, ethics and politics at the Universityof Texas, Austin. He is the author of Writing Dissent: Taking Radical Ideas from the Margins to the Mainstream, among other books. He also writes for popular media, and his opinion and analytical pieces on foreign policy, politics and race have appeared in papers and magazines throughout the United States.

Editorial Reviews

"Robert Jensen does more than challenge us to think and feel—he also encourages us to transform our lives. While Citizens of the Empire provides cogent information and analysis, the book also offers real clarity about the emotional imperatives of coming to terms with grim aspects of the status quo. At the same time that he demolishes media myths about the "war on terrorism," Jensen takes apart key mechanisms of propaganda, militarism and convenient illusions. Midway through the first decade of the 21st century, this book will jolt readers into a truer reckoning with their own beliefs and capabilities. Jensen makes a powerful case that we can stop being passive spectators and start being active co-creators of history. Citizens of the Empire is a book of realism and hope—a strong antidote to the poisons of conformity and despair."—Norman Solomon, Co-author, Target Iraq: What the News Media Didn't Tell You, Executive Director, Institute for Public Accuracy

From the Publisher