Direct Democracy

Collective Power, the Swarm, and the Literatures of the Americas

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, Central & South American, Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Cultural Studies, African-American Studies
Cover of the book Direct Democracy by Scott Henkel, University Press of Mississippi
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Scott Henkel ISBN: 9781496812261
Publisher: University Press of Mississippi Publication: May 25, 2017
Imprint: University Press of Mississippi Language: English
Author: Scott Henkel
ISBN: 9781496812261
Publisher: University Press of Mississippi
Publication: May 25, 2017
Imprint: University Press of Mississippi
Language: English

Winner of a 2018 C. L. R. James Award for a Published Book for Academic or General Audiences from the Working-Class Studies Association

Beginning with the Haitian Revolution, Scott Henkel lays out a literary history of direct democracy in the Americas. Much research considers direct democracy as a form of organization fit for worker cooperatives or political movements. Henkel reinterprets it as a type of collective power, based on the massive slave revolt in Haiti. In the representations of slaves, women, and workers, Henkel traces a history of power through the literatures of the Americas during the long nineteenth century.

Thinking about democracy as a type of power presents a challenge to common, often bureaucratic and limited interpretations of the term and opens an alternative archive, which Henkel argues includes C. L. R. James's The Black Jacobins, Walt Whitman's Democratic Vistas, Lucy Parsons's speeches advocating for the eight-hour workday, B. Traven's novels of the Mexican Revolution, and Marie Vieux Chauvet's novella about Haitian dictatorship.

Henkel asserts that each writer recognized this power and represented its physical manifestation as a swarm. This metaphor bears a complicated history, often describing a group, a movement, or a community. Indeed it conveys multiplicity and complexity, a collective power. This metaphor's many uses illustrate Henkel's main concerns, the problems of democracy, slavery, and labor, the dynamics of racial repression and resistance, and the issues of power which run throughout the Americas.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Winner of a 2018 C. L. R. James Award for a Published Book for Academic or General Audiences from the Working-Class Studies Association

Beginning with the Haitian Revolution, Scott Henkel lays out a literary history of direct democracy in the Americas. Much research considers direct democracy as a form of organization fit for worker cooperatives or political movements. Henkel reinterprets it as a type of collective power, based on the massive slave revolt in Haiti. In the representations of slaves, women, and workers, Henkel traces a history of power through the literatures of the Americas during the long nineteenth century.

Thinking about democracy as a type of power presents a challenge to common, often bureaucratic and limited interpretations of the term and opens an alternative archive, which Henkel argues includes C. L. R. James's The Black Jacobins, Walt Whitman's Democratic Vistas, Lucy Parsons's speeches advocating for the eight-hour workday, B. Traven's novels of the Mexican Revolution, and Marie Vieux Chauvet's novella about Haitian dictatorship.

Henkel asserts that each writer recognized this power and represented its physical manifestation as a swarm. This metaphor bears a complicated history, often describing a group, a movement, or a community. Indeed it conveys multiplicity and complexity, a collective power. This metaphor's many uses illustrate Henkel's main concerns, the problems of democracy, slavery, and labor, the dynamics of racial repression and resistance, and the issues of power which run throughout the Americas.

More books from University Press of Mississippi

Cover of the book Comfort Food by Scott Henkel
Cover of the book New York State Folklife Reader by Scott Henkel
Cover of the book Unsung Valor by Scott Henkel
Cover of the book The Pilgrim Jubilees by Scott Henkel
Cover of the book Todd Haynes by Scott Henkel
Cover of the book Hearths of Darkness by Scott Henkel
Cover of the book Understanding Asthma by Scott Henkel
Cover of the book Roots of a Region by Scott Henkel
Cover of the book Weapons of Mississippi by Scott Henkel
Cover of the book The Painted Screens of Baltimore by Scott Henkel
Cover of the book Kathryn Bigelow by Scott Henkel
Cover of the book The Comics of Rutu Modan by Scott Henkel
Cover of the book Mayor Crump Don't Like It by Scott Henkel
Cover of the book Whose Improv Is It Anyway? Beyond Second City by Scott Henkel
Cover of the book Mississippi Fiddle Tunes and Songs from the 1930s by Scott Henkel
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy