Flagging Patriotism

"I find Shohat/Stam's work brilliant, original, exhilarating."—Edward Said

"Does patriotic love of one's country have to lead to nationalist narcissism? Or can we imagine a complex, transnational, multi-voiced patriotism? Putting right-wing pseudo-patriots on notice, Stam and Shohat weave past and present voices from Brazil, France, and the United States together into a pathbreaking vision of a vibrant, critical patriotism."—Jodi Dean, author of Zizek's Politics

"I am grateful for this book. Now is the time to bracket the daily business of disciplinary work and to attend to a monstrous war in Iraq, and to the Empire that doesn't seem to stop and reflect on the effects of disastrous patriotism. Stam and Shohat combine a shared flair for interdisciplinary analysis and also complementary perspectives on two hemispheres. Their book is a compelling account that calls for re-framing legislation and loyalties."—Doris Sommer, Director of the Cultural Agents Initiative at Harvard University

"‘They hate us because they hate our freedoms,’ George Bush keeps telling us. But if you're becoming a little suspicious that Bush doth protest too much, especially as his own administration has done more than any terrorists to take away ‘our freedoms,’ this is the book for you. A triangulation in the best sense between French and Brazilian and American exceptionalist skews on the United States, this book bores into the conundra of Anti-Americanism and American patriotism. It holds France and Brazil up as a mirror to the self-conceit of American officialdom. Comprehending anti-Americanism while rejecting it as decisively as it rejects American exceptionalism, Flagging Patriotism points toward a new, transnational patriotism. Easily the most thoughtful book on the subject, it packs accessible analysis alongside gut common sense and is excitingly and exquisitely written."—Neil Smith, author of The Endgame of Globalization