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Title: Roads to Dominion: Right-Wing Movements and Political Power in the United States by Sara Diamond ISBN: 0-89862-864-4 Publisher: Guilford Press Pub. Date: 08 September, 1995 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.25 (4 reviews)
Rating: 2
Summary: Doesn't understand the community about which she writes
Comment: Sara Diamond is somewhat more responsible and restrained than other Leftist writers, like Chip Berlet and Skipp Porteous, who think that conservative Christianity poses a threat to democratic traditions in America. But in the end, Diamond falls victim (or willingly perpetuates) the same lie: that mainstream evangelical Christians are evil and part of a plot to abolish democracy because they tend to vote Republican.
To reach these conclusions, Diamond (as well as the other aforementioned Mother Jones contributors) dwells on the fringe of American religion (Christian Reconstructionists, independent fundamentalists, Kingdom Now charismatics). All told, these groups probably don't even add up to 1 million people - small change in a country as big as America - and the bulk of them (independent fundamentalists) are relatively apolitical, however authoritarian and anti-intellectual they are within their own communities. These groups and their agendas cannot be extrapolated to mainstream Evangelicalism, the 20-30 million Christians represented by the National Association of Evangelicals and similar denominational entities.
Rating: 3
Summary: Great information, needs better sociological framework
Comment: Diamond's book contains a great wealth of information about right wing movements and any one interested in the history of anti-communism, conservative Christianity or other related movements should read it. Even a casual glance at the book reveals the enormous amount of time and effort that went into the book.
In this review, I'll focus on more sociological issues. First, I see this book as a contribution to the sociology of social movements. One of the strengths of the book is that it shows the importance of mobilization and organization building, a theme
emphasized in recent social movements research.
However, one thing I found interesting is that the book doesn't draw much from the "social movement cycle" literature, which argues that movements reach a peak and then decline. Diamond depicts a set of movements that looks like they are on the road to world domination.
Since the publication of the book, we have a little more perspective on right wing movements. They did gain an enormous amount of power, but there were limits and the movements are now in decline. Consider these simple facts: no GOP presidenial candidate has beat 50% of the vote since Bush '88, the Senate has slid back into the Democrat column and the House will probably revert to the Dems. Tonight, conservative
gubernatorial candidates in Jersey and Virginia have gone down in defeat. Prayer has not been re-instituted in all American
public schools, creationism is still taught in few places and
women still have the right to choose.
We have not encountered a theocratic
pusch. What can be said is that right wing movements have
done very well considering that they are in the numerical
minority and that liberal politics dominated up until the
mid-1970's. They did so using organizational techniques
now copied by all sorts of movements (like PACS, mail lists,
etc.), a point hammered home by Diamond's book.
Another criticism of the book is that it too easily adopts the
left/right dichotomy. Should one really classify conservative
Christians with atheistic pro-capitalist Ayn Rand cyberlibertarians?
One lesson that we've learned from political sociology is that
left/right distinctions can really mask deep differences. For
example, it would be folly to lump together Green movements,
labor movements and student movements. Diamond does discuss
differences in right wing movements in detail, but insists on
retaining the "right/left" framework, much to my dismay. I really wish that she had reshaped the rhetoric of the book to fit the data that she produced.
Maybe instead of "right wing," she should work out a general sociological theory that would predict why Ayn Rand libertarians are frequently to be found with conservative christians. It is suggested at some points that christians are manipulated by big business, which is the "masses are duped by the oppressor" theory of social movements. I've never bought this theory.
The real intellectual challenge is to explore how the cognitive
framework of these movements allowed for such divergent groups
to cooperate, and "they're the pawns of big business" seems a
cop out. Maybe a network analysis will do the job, or
a David Snow style framing argument. Maybe everything does
boil down to "big business" rules the world, but there needs
to be some more testing of different theories. I feel that the level of detail allows the evasion of theory building
and hypothesis testing.
Diamond has the data and talent for this kind of
project, but can she move away from the activist audience,
which demands accusation, to a scientific audience, which demands
clear hypotheses and tests against data?
To summarize: great data, fantastically detailed research,
could use a better or more subtle sociological framework.
Rating: 4
Summary: Scary stuff!
Comment: If you think that rational, reasonable Americans can't be subjected to a theocratic putsch, you have another thing coming. Diamond is an expert at infiltrating radical fringe religious groups and getting the inside skinny on their plans and objectives. The objective is domination of the United States under the smiling face of Jesus, regardless of the richly diverse religious makeup of the country. There are those out there who would force you to follow their rules and their morality, because they believe they have all the answers. Diamond's research shows us how they might, and are indeed trying, to do exactly that. The ties are strong and many and lie just below the surface of the public consciousness. If nothing else, it will make you wonder what a given politician REALLY has on his mind when he names Jesus as his favorite philosopher.
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Title: Spiritual Warfare: The Politics of the Christian Right by Sara Diamond ISBN: 0896083616 Publisher: South End Press Pub. Date: November, 1989 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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Title: Not by Politics Alone: The Enduring Influence of the Christian Right by Sara Diamond ISBN: 1572304944 Publisher: Guilford Press Pub. Date: 15 February, 2000 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title: Between Jesus and the Market: The Emotions That Matter in Right-Wing America by Linda Kintz ISBN: 0822319675 Publisher: Duke Univ Pr (Txt) Pub. Date: September, 1997 List Price(USD): $21.95 |
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Title: With God on Our Side : The Rise of the Religious Right in America by William Martin, William Martin ISBN: 0553067494 Publisher: Broadway Books Pub. Date: 01 July, 1997 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: Fundamentalism and Gender, 1875 to the Present by Margaret Lamberts Bendroth ISBN: 0300068646 Publisher: Yale Univ Pr Pub. Date: September, 1996 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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