The Politics of Subjectivity in American Foreign Policy Discourses

Solomon, T. (2015) The Politics of Subjectivity in American Foreign Policy Discourses. University of Michigan Press: Ann Arbor, MI. ISBN 9780472119462

Full text not currently available from Enlighten.

Publisher's URL: https://www.press.umich.edu/5031921/politics_of_subjectivity_in_american_foreign_policy_discourses

Abstract

Why are some discourses more politically efficacious than others? Seeking answers to this question, Ty Solomon develops a new theoretical approach to the study of affect, identity, and discourse—core phenomena whose mutual interweaving have yet to be fully analyzed in International Relations. Drawing upon Jacques Lacan’s psychoanalytic theory and Ernesto Laclau’s approach to hegemonic politics, Solomon argues that prevailing discourses offer subtle but powerfully appealing opportunities for affective investment on the part of audiences.<p></p> Through empirical case studies of the affective resonances of the war on terror and the rise and fall of neoconservative influence in American foreign policy, Solomon offers a unique way to think about the politics of identity as the construction of “common sense” powerfully underpinned by affective investments. He provides both a fuller understanding of the emotional appeal of political rhetoric in general and, specifically, a provocative explanation of the reasons for the reception of particular U.S. foreign policy rhetoric that shifted Americans’ attitudes toward neoconservative foreign policy in the 1990s and shaped the post-9/11 “war on terror.”

Item Type:Books
Status:Published
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Solomon, Professor Ty
Authors: Solomon, T.
College/School:College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Politics
Publisher:University of Michigan Press
ISBN:9780472119462
Related URLs:

University Staff: Request a correction | Enlighten Editors: Update this record