Contested Democracy

These strong essays, inspired by the scholarship and teaching of Eric Foner, examine the contests--from the era of the revolution to the twentieth century--out of which freedom, democracy, and justice are established, sustained, limited, and expanded. There is no more important theme in American history, and it is wonderfully illuminated in these essays. The contributors all entered the profession in the closing decade of the twentieth century, and with these essays, which dig deeply into the conditions and ideologies of power and resistance, they are already reshaping our century's understanding of American history. -- Thomas Bender, New York University Eric Foner writes history that matters, and so do his students. Contested Democracy tests America's great ideal against the often grim realities of the American experience. Taking aim at the contradictions and lacunae--the failure of Americans to live up to their own standards--Foner's students honor their mentor in sparkling explorations of the yet unfinished revolution. At a time when the language of democracy is cynically employed in the service of tyranny, Contested Democracy provides a bracing refresher in the long struggle to secure the ideal. -- Ira Berlin, Distinguished University Professor, University of Maryland

With essays on US history ranging from American Revolution to the dawn of the twenty-first century, this volume illuminates struggles waged over freedom and citizenship throughout the American past. It demonstrates how opposition to the expansion of democracy has shaped the American tradition as much as movements for social and political change.With essays on U.S. history ranging from the American Revolution to the dawn of the twenty-first century, Contested Democracy illuminates struggles waged over freedom and citizenship throughout the American past. Guided by a commitment to democratic citizenship and responsible scholarship, the contributors to this volume insist that rigorous engagement with history is essential to a vital democracy, particularly amid the current erosion of human rights and civil liberties within the United States and abroad. Emphasizing the contradictory ways in which freedom has developed within the United States and in the exercise of American power abroad, these essays probe challenges to American democracy through conflicts shaped by race, slavery, gender, citizenship, political economy, immigration, law, empire, and the idea of the nation state. In this volume, writers demonstrate how opposition to the expansion of democracy has shaped the American tradition as much as movements for social and political change. By foregrounding those who have been marginalized in U.S society as well as the powerful, these historians and scholars argue for an alternative vision of American freedom that confronts the limitations, failings, and contradictions of U. S. power. Their work provides crucial insight into the role of the United States in this latest age of American empire and the importance of different and oppositional visions of American democracy and freedom. At a time of intense disillusionment with U.S. politics and of increasing awareness of the costs of empire, these contributors argue that responsible historical scholarship can challenge the blatant manipulation of discourses on freedom. They call for careful and conscientious scholarship not only to illuminate contemporary problems but also to act as a bulwark against mythmaking in the service of cynical political ends.