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The Uncultured Wars

The Uncultured Wars

Arabs, Muslims and the Poverty of Liberal Thought - New Essays

Steven Salaita

Buy Now Hardback: £55 ISBN: 9781848132344
Buy Now Paperback: £14.99 ISBN: 9781848132351

Publication date: 15/11/2008
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About the Book

The Uncultured Wars is a powerful indictment of dominant American liberal-left discourse. Through twelve stylish essays Steven Salaita returns again and again to his core themes of anti-Arab racism and Islamophobia and the inadequacy of critical thought amongst the 'chattering classes', showing how racism continues to exist in the places where we would least expect it.

By looking at topics as diverse as 'Is Jackass Justifiable?', 'Open Mindedness on Independence Day' and 'Ambition, Terrorism and Empathy', Salaita explores why Arabs are marginalized, and who seeks to benefit from this. He goes on to make the case that Arabs and Muslims urgently need to be included in the conversations that people have about American geopolitics.

Part of a long tradition of politically engaged writing, and a trailblazer in the emerging genre of Arab-American writing, this book is eminently readable and relevant to our times.

Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
Anti-Arab Racism, American Liberals, and the New Civilian Terrorists
The Indispensably Expendable
I Was Called up to Commit Genocide
Open-Mindedness on Independence Day
Michael Moore Does It Again
Ambition, Terrorism, and Empathy
Is Jackass Unjustifiable?
The Perils and Profits of Doing Comparative Work
What is Michael Lerner Really Talking About?
Immigrants Are Not Homogenous
Distress and Bluster at Columbia; Or, the Day Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Was Invited to Academe and Promptly Emblematized Terrorism
The Zealots of Clandestine Faith
Conclusion

About the Author

Steven Salaita is Assistant Professor of English at Virginia Tech. His other books include Anti-Arab Racism in the USA, The Holy Land in Transit, and Arab American Literary Fictions, Cultures, and Politics.