<TitleType>01</TitleType> <TitleText textcase="02">Citizens of the Empire</TitleText> <Subtitle textcase="02">The Struggle to Claim Our Humanity</Subtitle>

City Lights Books onix@onixsuite.com 20130216 eng

GCDS-9780872864320 03 01 City Lights Books 01 GCOI 87286100646870 02 0872864324 03 9780872864320 15 9780872864320 BC <TitleType>01</TitleType> <TitleText textcase="02">Citizens of the Empire</TitleText> <Subtitle textcase="02">The Struggle to Claim Our Humanity</Subtitle> 1 A01 Jensen, Robert Robert Jensen Robert Jensen is a professor in the School of Journalism at the University of Texas at Austin and a founding board member of the Third Coast Activist Resource Center. He is the author of The Heart of Whiteness: Confronting Race, Racism and White Privilege (City Lights); Citizens of the Empire: The Struggle to Claim Our Humanity (City Lights); All My Bones Shake: Seeking a Progressive Path to the Prophetic Voice; Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity;  and Writing Dissent: Taking Radical Ideas from the Margins to the Mainstream. Jensen is also co-producer of the documentary film "Abe Osheroff: One Foot in the Grave, the Other Still Dancing." He lives in Austin, TX. 01 eng 160 01 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.Robert Jensen is a professor of media law, ethics and politics at the University of 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. 08 "Robert Jensen supplies a much needed citizens' manual, that explains well the evasion of moral principles that underlie appeals to patriotism, and the differences between nominal and real free speech and a vibrant versus an empty and managed democracy." Edward S. Herman, author of The Real Terror Network: Terrorism in Fact and Propaganda and The Myth of the Liberal Media 08 "A few pages into this slim manifesto, its clear that Jensons latest offering is a heavy critique of the U.S.s post 9/11 policy, the war on terror and George W. Bush. It would be remiss, however, to reduce this work to mere complaint. Jensen, a journalism professor at the Univ. of Texas, Austin, delivers a concise, telling, first-person account of what he argues is the "alienation and isolation that so many feel in the face of the triumphalism common in the country" since the attacks. He questions why America has developed such "an incredibly degraded political culture" and criticizes U.S. academic institutions for their "unwillingness to take seriously their role as centers of knowledge and their refusal to create space for debate and discussion." It is up to the citizens of the empire, Jensen says, to "build movements that can transform peoples opposition into political power." That sounds like a tall order, but Jensens use of personal anecdotes, analogies and in-your-face common sense makes the reading easy and his request sound doable, even logical. Jensens premise gains momentum as he correlates the increase of American civil liberties to decreased public participation, reminding readers that the "degree to which a society is democratic also can be judged by how extensive and active are citizens attempts to participate in the formation of public policy." 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 08 "...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 08 "If, as is axiomatic in therapeutic circles, a person suffering psychological disorder cannot begin to recover until s/he acknowledges the fact of his/her illness, the same principle must apply at the level of mass psychology to the populations of entire countries. Robert Jensen not only argues compellingly that this is so in the contemporary United States, he offers the range of proof necessary to convince all but the most delusional among us that his analysis is accurate. Thus does he provide a veritable cognitive tool kit with which to undertake transformation of the lethal pathology afflicting the U.S. body politic into a condition of mental health. Citizens of Empire is vital reading for anyone and everyone who would seek to forge a viable alternative politics in modern America." Ward Churchill, author of A Little Matter of Genocide and Perversions of Justice 08 "That the U.S. today is engaged in a project of empire-building is now beyond debate. But few have clarified the consequences and the choice facing those of us who are citizens of that empire: to challenge it peacefully, from within, or to watch aghast as others attack it, violently, from without. Among those who would meet that challenge for justice, there is anger and there is hope. Bob Jensen has managed the unusual accomplishment of describing and invoking both." Phyllis Bennis, author of Before and After: U.S. Foreign Policy and the September 11th Crisis and Calling the Shots: How Washington Dominates Today's UN 08 "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 Didnt Tell You, Executive Director, Institute for Public Accuracy 04 02 72 01 http://www.citylights.com/resources/titles/87286100646870/images/87286100646870L.gif 07 02 72 01 http://www.citylights.com/resources/titles/87286100646870/images/87286100646870S.gif http://www.citylights.com/book/?GCOI=87286100646870 City Lights Publishers 01 City Lights Publishers 20040401 01 8 in 02 5.5 in 08 16 oz City Lights Books 01 WORLD 20 20040401 01 02 11.95 USD