Obama and the Paradigm Shift

Measuring Change. Edited by Birte Christ and Greta Olson.

Elf (englischsprachige) Beiträge ziehen eine Bilanz der ersten Amtszeit Obamas und fragen, inwieweit sich in politischer, gesellschaftspolitischer wie kultureller Hinsicht Paradigmenwechsel vollzogen haben. Sie beleuchten dabei nicht nur die Wirkung auf die Gesellschaft der Vereinigten Staaten, sondern auch darüber hinausgehende Effekte auf westliche Gesellschaften, insbesondere auf die Verhältnisse in Deutschland. - This book asks if Barack Obama's election as the 44th President of the United States represented a paradigmatic shift in the political and cultural tides. It works to move beyond a renewed acknowledgement of the extraordinary symbolic value of a black man having become president in a country still rife with racial problems. Specifically, "Obama and the Paradigm Shift" investigates those areas of cultural politics in which Obama's election to the U.S. presidency were expected to make the greatest impact. These include racial politics, normative forms of masculinity and femininity, and an abatement of the divisiveness of the political climate. Outside of the United States, the volume questions the degree to which these phenomena have affected related areas in German culture. Adopting a trans-Atlantic perspective, "Obama and the Paradigm Shift" reflects on ways the presidency has impacted on German cultural politics particularly regarding women in power and a politics of affect. Eleven contributions by Thomas C. Holt, M. Michaela Hampf, Gabriele Dietze, Greta Olson, Andreas Falke, Birte Christ, Helen Bond, Michael Butter, Jörn Ahrens, Sabine Sielke and Allyson Hobbs. - Contents: Greta Olson: Introduction. What Has the Obama Presidency Changed? - Thomas C. Holt: Reflections on the Problem of Race in the Age of Obama. - M. Michaela Hampf: The Right to Bare Arms. Reading Michelle Obama's Public Image. - Gabriele Dietze: Barack Obama's "Identity Performance" and the Intersection of Race and Gender during the Nomination Battle against Hillary Clinton. - Greta Olson: Weighing In on Obama. Connections between Embodiment, Class, and Masculinity in the United States and Germany. - Andreas Falke: Obama and Paradigm Change? No Way to Escape the Political Divide. - Birte Christ: Michelle Obama, the Good American and Icon of Global Power Femininity. Gender Politics and National Boundary-Making in German News Coverage. - Helen Bond: Shattering Ceilings Worldwide. Obama's Presidency and Its Impact on the Identity and Political Consciousness of Children in the United States, Sierra Leone, China, Russia, and Jamaica. - Michael Butter: The Birthers' New World Order. Conspiracy Theories about Barack Obama. - Jörn Ahrens: Images of the Political. Obama and Post-Democracy. - Sabine Sielke: The Poetics of Presidency and the Promises of Change. Reading Barack Obama. - Allyson Hobbs: Conclusion. A Paradigm Shift in Fits and Starts. - 301 Seiten mit 11 Abb., gebunden (American Studies - A Monograph Series; Vol. 225/Universitätsverlag Winter 2012)