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Even before the emergence of the civil rights movement with black churches at its center, African American religion and progressive politics were assumed to be inextricably intertwined. In her revelatory book, Barbara Savage counters this assumption with the story of a highly diversified religious community whose debates over engagement in the struggle for racial equality were as vigorous as they were persistent. Rather than inevitable allies, black churches and political activists have been uneasy and contentious partners.

From the 1920s on, some of the best African American minds—W. E. B. Du Bois, Carter G. Woodson, Benjamin Mays, Nannie Helen Burroughs, Mary McLeod Bethune, Charles S. Johnson, and others—argued tirelessly about the churches’ responsibility in the quest for racial justice. Could they be a liberal force, or would they be a constraint on progress? There was no single, unified black church but rather many churches marked by enormous intellectual, theological, and political differences and independence. Yet, confronted by racial discrimination and poverty, churches were called upon again and again to come together as savior institutions for black communities.

The tension between faith and political activism in black churches testifies to the difficult and unpredictable project of coupling religion and politics in the twentieth century. By retrieving the people, the polemics, and the power of the spiritual that animated African American political life, Savage has dramatically demonstrated the challenge to all religious institutions seeking political change in our time.

Customer Reviews (1)

Overview of important (and overlooked) figures in black religion and religious politics
In Your Spirits Walk Beside Us, Professor Savage sets out to discuss the important history of theorizing about the practice of religion in black America while being attentive to critical thinkers and activists in black history whose rhetoric concerned the link between black social progress and the role of religious institutions.Never generalizing about the arguably ambivalent role afforded to black political movements by individual and collective religious institutions within the US, Savage nevertheless makes sure to highlight the neglected roles of intelligent black women in American religious history whose stories are lost when we acknowledge that they were not afforded the usual positions of authority occupied by black men as religious and political leaders.In addition, Savage paints a realistic and refreshing image of diverse thought within African American religion, illuminating not only the reality of diverse religious traditions but also diversity of opinion and theology within black Protestantism--attitudes about (the existence of) God, about non-Christians (namely, the forgotten black Christian fascination with Gandhi), about white religions, and about the efficacy of black pastors and churches in struggles for social equality.

As ultimately revealed in the final chapter, Savage's construction of a black pantheon of sorts for meaningful, critical intellectual thought about black religion in the US serves to provide the reader a better sense of how to locate modern black leaders in a larger historical debate about the relationship between religion, race, and politics with a focus on two such men, then-presidential candidate Barack Obama and Rev. Jeremiah Wright.As the two men might be considered different ideals for the synthesis of a racial consciousness with an effective, meaningful form of black Christianity, the focus of Savage's history relies on those individuals from history who largely represent the most effective presence of black religious liberalism in American history (and rightly so, given that these women and men made and preserved the black institutions responsible for progress).While attention is given to the reality of a conservative, individualistic, affluent tide in black religion evidenced by modern megachurches, I do feel that such conservative positioning and history needs to be given stronger attention in order to highlight for an audience interested in the intersection of religion and politics how race colors differently the simplistic liberal/conservative divide so easily stereotyped in modern political discourse. But the author's best work remains her ability to make sure that any modern discussion about religion, race, and politics is sensitive to the history of gendered divisions within black social history.Perhaps a more robust discussion of the political divides between black women in religious institutions would complicate Savage's important response to the minimization of black women in African American history and religion, but I believe it would have helped to further illuminate reasons for why such progress in black history was made only by a minority within a minority, one composed of a majority of women. ... Read more

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Today's domestic-advice writers--women such as Martha Stewart, Cheryl Mendelson, and B. Smith--are part of a long tradition, notes Sarah Leavitt. Their success rests on a legacy of literature that has focused on the home as an expression of ideals. Here, Leavitt crafts a fascinating genealogy of domestic advice, based on her readings of hundreds of manuals spanning 150 years of history.

Over the years, domestic advisors have educated women about everything from modernism and morality to sanitation and design. Their writings helped create the idealized vision of home held by so many Americans, Leavitt says. Investigating cultural themes in domestic advice written since the mid-nineteenth century, she demonstrates that these works, which found meaning in kitchen counters, parlor rugs, and bric-a-brac, have held the interest of readers despite vast changes in women's roles and opportunities.

Domestic-advice manuals have always been the stuff of fantasy, argues Leavitt, demonstrating cultural ideals rather than cultural realities. But these rich sources reveal how women understood the connection between their homes and the larger world. At its most fundamental level, the true domestic fantasy was that women held the power to reform their society through first reforming their homes. ... Read more

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Gleaned from research into hundreds of manuals
From Catharine Beecher To Martha Stewart: A Cultural History Of Domestic Advice by historian Sara A. Leavitt is a thoughtful and informative overview of the history of domestic advice, gleaned from research into hundreds of manuals written throughout the past 150 years. Cultural themes, the broad appeal of domestic advice across the decades in spite of radical changes in women's rights and roles in America, and the connection between women's homes, and the world outsides the home, mark From Catharine Beecher To Martha Stewart as a fascinating, accessible, insightful, scholarly treatise. Especially recommended for personal and Women's Studies supplemental reading lists and academic reference collections, From Catharine Beecher To Martha Stewart is also available in hardcover (0807827029). ... Read more

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In this short monograph, Daniel Ford combines a survey of the literature with the memories of his father, one of the Irish Republican Army volunteers who battled British forces during and after the First World War. Though the rebellion was settled by the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921, IRA diehards fought the new Irish government for two bloody years. Ford concludes that the rebellion and civil war was in many ways the first modern insurgency, prefiguring some of the same tactics used by Islamists today. About 3,500 words. A "long essay" submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in War Studies, King's College London. ... Read more

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'a superb essay'
My tutor was kind enough to give me an A+ on this 'long essay'--and that's in a British university, mind, where grade inflation hasn't taken hold nearly to the extent that it has in America. Here's what he wrote:

'This is a superb essay. It is a rich case study based upon a close reading of some of the better secondary sources illuminated to great effect by a primary historical resource, the unpublished memoirs and recollections of your father. It is a pleasure to read. I like also the explicit and well made links to broader themes in the study of insurgency from Callwell in 1906 to Boyd in 1996 (or thereabouts, you fail to give a reference). Excellent in all respects.'

(OMG, it's true--I didn't footnote that reference to Boyd!) Blue skies! -- Dan Ford
... Read more

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Ill-defined jobs, entrenched bureaucrats, and resentful hosts were just a few of the difficulties facing Peace Corps volunteers in the early days. On the other hand, life as a volunteer was sometimes more comfortable than expected. Prepared to dig ditches or build houses, more than half served as English teachers or worked in offices. Trained for a spartan existence, many volunteers found themselves living in well-appointed homes and even employing servants. These experiences often left volunteers with a less idealistic perception of how cultures interact. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Negative
I found this book at the thrift store and was interested in it as a prospective volunteer. I didn't really see the point of this book seeing as the Peace Corps now is different from the early Peace Corps days. The book basically gathers up any sort of negativity (criticism, quotes, etc) towards the Peace Corps and attempts to make some sort of argument out of it. It barely touches upon the accomplishments done by volunteers and basically like another review said, fuel for cynicism.

Thoughtful and evocative of another era.
This book brought back untold memories to me. I volunteered in Guatemala from 1967-69 and Mr. Fischer has reminded me of the waves of human suffering I witnessed. In one brief shining,moment we sought to stem theflow of crimes against humanity. This was a time long before profit marginsand balance sheets ruled the day, when success was measured by the livessaved and babies fed. I thank Mr. Fischer for taking me back to a simplertime, long before day trading and front page presidential fellatio. Thankyou, Fritz Fischer, for rocking my world!!

Awesome.
Mr. Fischer has done us all a favor with this book.His analysis, combining history and real life experience, rings true.More than that, the book evokes an earlier, more idealistic America, one where, in JFK'swords, one "asked not what your country could do for you, but what youcan do for your country."

Read this.It could change your life.

Fuel for Pessimists and Cynics
Unlike the author, I WAS in the Peace Corps. I wasin Togo, West Africa as a health volunteer from 1968-70, the time his book includes. I found very few points with which I could agree in his repetitive, one-sidedcompilation of quotes and opinions.

I do appreciate the acknowledgment ofthe work and committment put in by us as volunteers. In 68 we had noanti-communist indoctrination, no Marine-like physical boot camp, and(unfortunately) no Outward Bound experience.

I did finally learn French(after 3 useless years of it in school) through the intense, effectiveForeign service language training. I would say the phrase "The toughest jobyou'll ever love," which was a Peace Corps slogan, is fitting. The twoyears I spent in my village, the only white person, working side-by-sidewith the village midwife, form the most vivid experience of my now 53years.

I returned once, 20 years after my stint in Togo, finding myvillage "family" as warm and appreciative as ever. My 16 yr old son and Iare going back this Dec/Jan, so he can taste what I've talked about hiswhole life.

Don't bother with this book. ... Read more

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In this analytical narrative, Mr. Daniels examines the conditions of immigrants, Native Americans, and African Americans between 1890 and 1924, the heyday of immigration and a time of supposed progress for American minorities.Amazon.com Review
The years covered by this book were the greatest era forimmigration in the United States, and Not Like Us serves as areminder that immigrant ships were often not a welcome sight on thehorizon. Roger Daniels, a professor of history at the University ofCincinnati, begins the book with the story of the passage of theChinese Exclusion Act, a law which curtailed Chinese immigration andserved as a model for later U.S. immigration law. In successivechapters Daniels documents how various immigrant groups came toAmerica, and how anti-immigrant feelings graduallyintensified. Eventually the reactionary forces turned not only onrecent arrivals, but on African Americans and Native Americans, andthe early decades of the 20th century, far from being a halcyon time,were marked by ethnic strife and occasional full-fledged race riots inAmerica. Not Like Us is a concise, straightforward, andunsentimental history of immigration to America, and it serves as awelcome antidote to some romantic misconceptions about the Americanpast. --Robert McNamara ... Read more

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Right on the Mark!
The compilers of this great book deserve cudos, including for exposing the British propaganda hoaxes of World War I and their baleful role in increasing hatred against German-Americans. The burning of Louvain, e.g., happened in the chaotic struggle against partisans, it was an overreaction, but not a planned atrocity, on the level of the British army burning parts of Dublin in 1916. Anyhow, I teach US history and immigration courses, and strongly endorse that book.

Interesting, if a little unreliable in places
During almost four centuries of immigration to America, few eras were more fascinating than the two or three decades preceding the First World War. The social tumult caused by the arrival of millions of southern and eastern Europeans was never to be repeated on quite such a scale. This bookcaptures some of the excitement of the age and gives an insight into why,by the early 1920s, there was a "nativist" reaction. Alas, itslively, liberal-minded arguments are not always on the right track.Explaining the rise of anti-German sentiment, for example, it is wrong toaccuse the British and French of inventing stories of First World Waratrocities committed by Germans in Belgium. Such atrocities undoubtedlytook place - in the historic university town of Louvain, for starters. Hadthis book been longer, it could have tackled such matters with greatersophistication. ... Read more

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This new book examines the construction, activities and impact of the network of US state and private groups in the Cold War.

By moving beyond state-dominated, ‘top-down’ interpretations of international relations and exploring instead the engagement and mobilization of whole societies and cultures, it presents a radical new approach to the study of propaganda and American foreign policy and redefines the relationship between the state and private groups in the pursuit and projection of American foreign relations.

In a series of valuable case studies, examining relationships between the state and women’s groups, religious bodies, labour, internationalist groups, intellectuals, media and students, this volume explores the construction of a state-private network not only as a practical method of communication and dissemination of information or propaganda, but also as an ideological construction, drawing upon specifically American ideologies of freedom and voluntarism. The case studies also analyze the power-relationship between the state and private groups, assessing the extent to which the state was in control of the relationship, and the extent to which private organizations exerted their independence.

This book will be of great interest to students of Intelligence Studies, Cold War History and IR/security studies in general.

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documents extensive private groups in US
This surveys some 60 or 70 years of how US foreign policy was influenced by private groups of concerned individuals. During the Second World War and the Cold War. Indeed, in the latter, Americans would point to the participation of voluntary associations as an abiding strength of their society. In stark contrast to the repression of any such groups in communist or fascist nations.

The book is useful in explaining a facet of US society that has perhaps been underappreciated. Many such groups contributed to and influenced foreignpolicies. There is also a fascinating look at the US labour movement, with its AFL and CIO . These undertook a major initiativeinwestern Europe, on the left wings of those countries,to stiffen the anti-Soviet resolve. It also lacked a socialist component, that made it very different from the labour movements of Europe.

The description of Hollywood's involvement in the Cold War has been more extensively told elsewhere. But herewe have a succinct accountof the film studiosrole in anti-communism, helped by Hoover'sFBI. ... Read more

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This book examines the geographic displacement of the illicit drug industry as a side effect of United States foreign policy. To reduce the supply of cocaine and heroin from abroad, the US has relied on coercion against farmers, traffickers and governments, but this has only exacerbated the world's drugs problems.

US Foreign Policy and the War on Drugs develops and applies a causal mechanism to explain the displacement, analyzing US anti-drug initiatives at different times and in various regions. The findings clearly show that American foreign policy has been a major driving force behind the global spread of the illicit drug industry, calling for urgent revision.

This book will be of interest to students of US foreign policy, security studies and international relations in general.

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Literature and insurgency; ten studies in racial evolution: Mark Twain, Henry James, William Dean Howells, Frank Norris, David Graham Phillips, Stewart Edward White. Winston Churchill, Edith Wharton, Gertrude Atherton and Robert W. Chambers (1914)


552 pgs ... Read more

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Why did Iranian students seize the American embassy in Tehran in 1979? Why did the Carter administration launch a rescue mission, and why did it fail so spectacularly? This book answers these and other puzzles using an analogical reasoning approach that highlights the role of historical analogies in decision making. Using interviews with key decision makers on both sides, Houghton provides an original analysis of one of the United States' greatest foreign policy disasters of recent years. The book will interest students and scholars of foreign policy analysis and international relations. ... Read more

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Cognitive Psychology to Explain Roreign Policy Decision-Making
Raymond Tanter, from Georgetown, said that Houghton, lecturer in government at the University of Essex, has written a case study on the Iran hostage crisis, drawing on the literature of cognitive psychology to explain foreign policy decision-making. The book is fascinating because of the manner in which the author casts his questions--as puzzles to be solved with corresponding solutions. At issue are two questions:

(1) Why did Iranian students, with the tacit support of the Iranian leaders, seize the U.S. embassy in Tehran? Houghton considers several explanations: radical ideology, using the hostages as bargaining chips to get the shah back from the United States, or to prevent a counterrevolution by the United States. Drawing on cognitive psychology, Houghton argues for the third explanation. He then searches for evidence to eliminate competing explanations and marshal support for the idea that students seized the U.S. embassy because they wanted to prevent a repeat of the 1953 outcome when U.S. and British intelligence services stage-managed a coup against Iranian premier Mohammad Mossadeq and reinstalled the shah to power.

(2) Why did President Jimmy Carter choose military force to rescue the hostages, given that his world-view suggested relying exclusively on nonviolent means? He did so because the hostage rescue option was easily retrieved from the memory of Carter's national security team due to two recent experiences, the May 1975 Cambodian seizure of the SS Mayaguez, an American merchant ship (when marines and naval forces captured the ship and the Khmer Rouge government authorized release of the thirty-nine American men of the Mayaguez), as well as the Entebbe, Uganda raid staged by Israeli forces in July 1976. But another case involving the North Korean seizure of a spy ship, the USS Pueblo, in January 1968 was resolved without force, using only diplomatic negotiations (the ship's sailors were returned, but not the ship).

As he does for the Iranian students, Houghton assembles evidence to explain why Carter acted on the basis of the Mayaguez precedent rather than the Pueblo analogy. The Carter administration drew on the Mayaguez precedent because its key officials considered it a successful use of force. In contrast, and despite the return of American hostages without loss of life, they perceived Pueblo as a long-drawn out negotiation without the benefit of reinforcing future U.S. deterrent power or providing domestic gains, such as demonstrating strong leadership qualities by the president.

Houghton, thus, uses the "availability principle" from cognitive psychology to explain both the student seizure and Carter's actions. That said, the explanation for Iranian actions are more persuasive than for U.S. ones. He fails to explain why the Mayaguez incident, with its loss of life, should be a precedent for a president who was indisposed to use force.

... Read more

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During the last hundred years, the private and public voices of Latin American poetry have offered a wealth of imaginative responses to the region's social and political experiences. In the face of capitalist modernization, dictatorship and imperialist domination, poets have fought back. "The Gathering of Voices" argues that the best of Latin American poetry has set out to rediscover its roots in local experience and to enter a dialogue with the "ordinary" discourses of popular culture and tradition. The implication is that an alternative response to oppression is possible, one inspired by the shared global expeiences of alienation, exclusion and exploitation. The possibility of a universal emancipation is evoked in the transformation of language. Each chapter of the volume explores a crucial moment in this dialogue of voices, focusing on key texts, including works by Cardenal, Neruda, Vallejo and the Andrades. With extensive studies of the previously neglected tradition of Brazilian verse, the book provides a guide to the history of poetic debate and practice in 20th-century Latin America.The book includes complete poems of the artists discussed and should appeal to a general readership interested in Latin American culture. It is also a useful text for courses in literature and poetry. ... Read more

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Internationalising higher education requires significant institutional and academic change. This book addresses how the US federal government affected the development, institutionalisation and diffusion of this change process across the higher education system from 1958 to 1988. ... Read more

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The death of General Francisco Franco in November of 1975 ended thirty-six years of fascist-style dictatorship in Spain. The subsequent transition to liberal parliamentary government was remarkably smooth, particularly when compared to the recent difficulties experienced by other states, such as the former Soviet Republics and Eastern Europe. Ortiz traces Spain's success back to the development of a liberal tradition and a public sphere in the last decades of the 19th century during the Restoration period. He uses this era as a test case to demonstrate that liberal practices can develop even within a political situation where state institutions and the social infrastructure do not necessarily support them. ... Read more

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This book shows how peace movements affected US decisions to enter nuclear arms control talks during the Cold War. Most scholarship assumes that state policies on pursuing international cooperation are set by national leaders, in response either to international conditions, or to their own interests and ideas. By demonstrating the importance of public protest and citizen activism, Jeffrey Knopf shows how state preferences for cooperation can be shaped from below. ... Read more

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Atlanta is often cited as a prime example of a progressive New South metropolis in which blacks and whites have forged "a city too busy to hate." But Ronald Bayor argues that the city continues to bear the indelible mark of racial bias. Offering the first comprehensive history of Atlanta race relations, he discusses the impact of race on the physical and institutional development of the city from the end of the Civil War through the mayorship of Andrew Young in the 1980s. Bayor shows the extent of inequality, investigates the gap between rhetoric and reality, and presents a fresh analysis of the legacy of segregation and race relations for the American urban environment.

Bayor explores frequently ignored public policy issues through the lens of race--including hospital care, highway placement and development, police and fire services, schools, and park use, as well as housing patterns and employment. He finds that racial concerns profoundly shaped Atlanta, as they did other American cities. Drawing on oral interviews and written records, Bayor traces how Atlanta's black leaders and their community have responded to the impact of race on local urban development. By bringing long-term urban development into a discussion of race, Bayor provides an element missing in usual analyses of cities and race relations. ... Read more

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A must read for any new Atlantan
If you live in Atlanta and wonder why its Briarcliff becomes Moreland when you cross Ponce, why Marta [stinks], or why even now this vibrant city seems so segregated, you need to read this book.It is an enlightening (if at some points dense) view of the history of Atlanta from the perspective on race and especially for my generation (those who grew up after the civil rights movement) it is a book about the side of race relations you can not truly fathom until you are able to put Atlanta of the past together with Atlanta today. ... Read more

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Written in 1910, Checking the Waste eloquently describes the attitudes and practices of previous generations who thought of natural resources as limitless, the ramifications to the current generation and what was being done about it circa 1910.Mary Huston Gregory also describes in detail the delicate balancing act of the natural world and describes the state of natural resources at the time the book was written.

CHAPTERS:
Preface
What Is Conservation
Soil
Forests
Water
Coal
Other Fuels
Iron
Other Minerals
Animal Foods
Insects
Birds
Health
Beauty
In Conclusion ... Read more