Prophets and Patriots: Faith in Democracy Across the Political Divide
Prophets and Patriots takes readers inside two of the most active populist movements of the Obama era and highlights cultural convergences and contradictions at the heart of American political life. In the wake of the Great Recession and amid rising discontent with government responsiveness to ordinary citizens, the book follows participants in two very different groups—a progressive faith-based community organization and a conservative Tea Party group—as they set out to become active and informed citizens, put their faith into action, and hold government accountable. Both groups viewed themselves as the latest in a long line of prophetic voices and patriotic heroes who were carrying forward the promise of the American democratic project. Yet the ways in which each group put this common vision into practice reflected very different understandings of American democracy and citizenship.
UPDATE: Prophets and Patriots is the subject of a symposium at Syndicate, featuring critical essays and reflections from leading ethicists and sociologists. Check it out here.
REVIEWS AND RECOGNITION
Finalist for the 2018 Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion in Analytical-Descriptive Studies, American Academy of Religion
“In politically polarizing times such as these, Braunstein offers a more sensitive reading of the place of populist and grassroots movements in our democratic processes. She offers us a space to imagine American democracy anew and our active roles as citizens within it. Considering the stories that she tells is meant to propel the reader to consider his or her own role in imagining the nation and what taking up the responsibility of active participation in it actually looks like. Today in these politically tumultuous times a reasoned and thoughtful deliberation of how we move forward as a nation is as relevant as ever. With her first book she has made a powerful and convincing contribution.”
–Syndicate
“A wonderfully cogent, clear, and sympathetic description of what are often misunderstood groups. The comparison of community organizing and the Tea Party leads to generative insights into how contemporary forms of democratic citizenship should be understood and assessed.”
--Reading Religion
"Braunstein’s impressive fieldwork, analytic rigor, and fine writing will illuminate the next generation of scholars and students of public religion in America."
--Sociology of Religion
"Braunstein’s multisite comparative ethnography of these two active citizen groups makes for a compelling book that should be read in courses and disciplines beyond sociology. ... Braunstein tackles a sensitive and provocative subject—what it means to be a good citizen in a democratic society, with depth and nuance. I strongly endorse and highly recommend her book."
--American Journal of Sociology
“As I say—no, preach—to my students…: “You can’t really understand politics in the United States without understanding religion, and you can’t really understand religion in the United States without understanding politics.” Preach as I might, nothing I say gets this point across nearly as well as Braunstein’s book. Through a deeply engaging comparative ethnography of a local branch of the conservative Tea Party Movement (aka, “the Patriots”) and a politically progressive faith-based organizing coalition called Interfaith (aka, “the Prophets”), Braunstein’s work demonstrates how the ever-salient and potent combination of American religion and politics finds concrete expression in the practices, ideals, and commitments of two groups of active citizens. And when my students and I read Braunstein’s compelling account of what animates these two communities of political actors, it gets us thinking . . . and talking . . . and debating . . . and asking a number of questions about what it really means to have faith in and be a part of the grand, American democratic project.”
–Daniel Winchester, Associate Professor of Sociology at Purdue University
“On a personal and academic level, I am grateful for Ruth’s very fine work in this comparative ethnography. While we have seen a spate of ethnographic accounts of faith-based community organizing groups/networks in the last decade (e.g., Rich Wood, Mark Warren, Jeff Stout, Luke Bretherton), careful attention to the religious world of a Tea Party–related group is rare and the comparative perspective on how democratic imaginaries of “active citizenship” are cultivated and practiced is a rich gift to the scholarship on religion, moral agency, democracy, and social change.”
–Melissa Snarr, E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Chair and Associate Professor of Ethics & Society at Vanderbilt Divinity School
“While comparative ethnographies are becoming more common (a very welcome development), these are two groups that are seldom brought together in one analysis, and seldom treated with such ethnographic sensitivity to both sides. … Prophets and Patriots gives us reasons to be optimistic about the possibilities for a functional American politics, even as it simultaneously shows us how fundamental current differences can be. Written in an engaging manner, its accessibility and timeliness should make this a book with a very wide readership indeed.”
–Rhys Williams, Professor and Chair of Sociology at Loyola University Chicago
“While the book is careful, scholarly, thorough, and objective, it also has a similar sense of urgency and serious stakes, just like the progressive and conservative members of the grassroots movements themselves.”
–Penny Edgell, Professor of Sociology at the University of Minnesota
"This is important reading for anyone who wants to understand the practical meanings of populism in America."
--Paul Lichterman, Professor of Sociology and Religion, University of Southern California
"This is an important book for everyone worried about the polarization of American politics. Presented with sympathy and insight, Ruth Braunstein's research helps clarify the competing—and sometimes surprisingly similar—moral visions, self-understandings, and motivations of activists on the right and left."
--Craig Calhoun, President, Berggruen Institute
"Ruth Braunstein's book could not be more timely. She demonstrates that, even in our deeply polarized times, Americans on the right and left share fundamental presuppositions about what sustains and what undermines democracy. Her sophisticated theorizing about civil discourse and civil religion informs extensive, open-minded field research. Prophets and Patriots is a salutary read in our troubled times."
--Jeffrey C. Alexander, Lillian Chavenson Saden Professor of Sociology, Yale University
Prophets and Patriots takes readers inside two of the most active populist movements of the Obama era and highlights cultural convergences and contradictions at the heart of American political life. In the wake of the Great Recession and amid rising discontent with government responsiveness to ordinary citizens, the book follows participants in two very different groups—a progressive faith-based community organization and a conservative Tea Party group—as they set out to become active and informed citizens, put their faith into action, and hold government accountable. Both groups viewed themselves as the latest in a long line of prophetic voices and patriotic heroes who were carrying forward the promise of the American democratic project. Yet the ways in which each group put this common vision into practice reflected very different understandings of American democracy and citizenship.
UPDATE: Prophets and Patriots is the subject of a symposium at Syndicate, featuring critical essays and reflections from leading ethicists and sociologists. Check it out here.
REVIEWS AND RECOGNITION
Finalist for the 2018 Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion in Analytical-Descriptive Studies, American Academy of Religion
“In politically polarizing times such as these, Braunstein offers a more sensitive reading of the place of populist and grassroots movements in our democratic processes. She offers us a space to imagine American democracy anew and our active roles as citizens within it. Considering the stories that she tells is meant to propel the reader to consider his or her own role in imagining the nation and what taking up the responsibility of active participation in it actually looks like. Today in these politically tumultuous times a reasoned and thoughtful deliberation of how we move forward as a nation is as relevant as ever. With her first book she has made a powerful and convincing contribution.”
–Syndicate
“A wonderfully cogent, clear, and sympathetic description of what are often misunderstood groups. The comparison of community organizing and the Tea Party leads to generative insights into how contemporary forms of democratic citizenship should be understood and assessed.”
--Reading Religion
"Braunstein’s impressive fieldwork, analytic rigor, and fine writing will illuminate the next generation of scholars and students of public religion in America."
--Sociology of Religion
"Braunstein’s multisite comparative ethnography of these two active citizen groups makes for a compelling book that should be read in courses and disciplines beyond sociology. ... Braunstein tackles a sensitive and provocative subject—what it means to be a good citizen in a democratic society, with depth and nuance. I strongly endorse and highly recommend her book."
--American Journal of Sociology
“As I say—no, preach—to my students…: “You can’t really understand politics in the United States without understanding religion, and you can’t really understand religion in the United States without understanding politics.” Preach as I might, nothing I say gets this point across nearly as well as Braunstein’s book. Through a deeply engaging comparative ethnography of a local branch of the conservative Tea Party Movement (aka, “the Patriots”) and a politically progressive faith-based organizing coalition called Interfaith (aka, “the Prophets”), Braunstein’s work demonstrates how the ever-salient and potent combination of American religion and politics finds concrete expression in the practices, ideals, and commitments of two groups of active citizens. And when my students and I read Braunstein’s compelling account of what animates these two communities of political actors, it gets us thinking . . . and talking . . . and debating . . . and asking a number of questions about what it really means to have faith in and be a part of the grand, American democratic project.”
–Daniel Winchester, Associate Professor of Sociology at Purdue University
“On a personal and academic level, I am grateful for Ruth’s very fine work in this comparative ethnography. While we have seen a spate of ethnographic accounts of faith-based community organizing groups/networks in the last decade (e.g., Rich Wood, Mark Warren, Jeff Stout, Luke Bretherton), careful attention to the religious world of a Tea Party–related group is rare and the comparative perspective on how democratic imaginaries of “active citizenship” are cultivated and practiced is a rich gift to the scholarship on religion, moral agency, democracy, and social change.”
–Melissa Snarr, E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Chair and Associate Professor of Ethics & Society at Vanderbilt Divinity School
“While comparative ethnographies are becoming more common (a very welcome development), these are two groups that are seldom brought together in one analysis, and seldom treated with such ethnographic sensitivity to both sides. … Prophets and Patriots gives us reasons to be optimistic about the possibilities for a functional American politics, even as it simultaneously shows us how fundamental current differences can be. Written in an engaging manner, its accessibility and timeliness should make this a book with a very wide readership indeed.”
–Rhys Williams, Professor and Chair of Sociology at Loyola University Chicago
“While the book is careful, scholarly, thorough, and objective, it also has a similar sense of urgency and serious stakes, just like the progressive and conservative members of the grassroots movements themselves.”
–Penny Edgell, Professor of Sociology at the University of Minnesota
"This is important reading for anyone who wants to understand the practical meanings of populism in America."
--Paul Lichterman, Professor of Sociology and Religion, University of Southern California
"This is an important book for everyone worried about the polarization of American politics. Presented with sympathy and insight, Ruth Braunstein's research helps clarify the competing—and sometimes surprisingly similar—moral visions, self-understandings, and motivations of activists on the right and left."
--Craig Calhoun, President, Berggruen Institute
"Ruth Braunstein's book could not be more timely. She demonstrates that, even in our deeply polarized times, Americans on the right and left share fundamental presuppositions about what sustains and what undermines democracy. Her sophisticated theorizing about civil discourse and civil religion informs extensive, open-minded field research. Prophets and Patriots is a salutary read in our troubled times."
--Jeffrey C. Alexander, Lillian Chavenson Saden Professor of Sociology, Yale University
FURTHER READING
Braunstein, Ruth. 2018. "Good Troublemakers." Series on "American Religion, Humility and Democracy." The Immanent Frame.
Braunstein, Ruth. 2017. “A shared vision for a more just country that we all call home.” The Revealer: A Review of Religion & Media.
Braunstein, Ruth. 2017. A Deepening Political Divide. University of California Press Blog.
Braunstein, Ruth. 2017. Muslims as outsiders, enemies and others: The 2016 presidential campaign and the politics of religious exclusion. American Journal of Cultural Sociology 5(3): 355-372.
Braunstein, Ruth and Malaena Taylor. 2017. Is the Tea Party a “religious” movement? Religiosity in the Tea Party versus the Religious Right. Sociology of Religion 78(1): 33-59.
Braunstein, Ruth. 2016. Mitt Romney & the Tea Party helped make Donald Trump... Can they unmake him? Political Power & Social Theory: The Blogpages.
Braunstein, Ruth. 2015. The Tea Party goes to Washington: Mass demonstrations as performative and interactional processes.” Qualitative Sociology 38(4): 353-374. (Lead article).
Braunstein, Ruth, Brad R. Fulton, and Richard L. Wood. 2014. The role of bridging cultural practices in racially and socioeconomically diverse civic organizations. American Sociological Review 79(4): 705-25.
Braunstein, Ruth. 2014. The Good, the Bad, and the Uncivil. Participation and its Discontents.
Braunstein, Ruth. 2014. “Who are ‘We the People’? Multidimensional identity work in the Tea Party,” Pp. 149-173 in Understanding the Tea Party Movement, Nella Van Dyke and David S. Meyer, Eds. Ashgate.
Braunstein, Ruth. 2011. Who are ‘We the People’? Contexts, Spring 2011.
Braunstein, Ruth. 2018. "Good Troublemakers." Series on "American Religion, Humility and Democracy." The Immanent Frame.
Braunstein, Ruth. 2017. “A shared vision for a more just country that we all call home.” The Revealer: A Review of Religion & Media.
Braunstein, Ruth. 2017. A Deepening Political Divide. University of California Press Blog.
Braunstein, Ruth. 2017. Muslims as outsiders, enemies and others: The 2016 presidential campaign and the politics of religious exclusion. American Journal of Cultural Sociology 5(3): 355-372.
Braunstein, Ruth and Malaena Taylor. 2017. Is the Tea Party a “religious” movement? Religiosity in the Tea Party versus the Religious Right. Sociology of Religion 78(1): 33-59.
Braunstein, Ruth. 2016. Mitt Romney & the Tea Party helped make Donald Trump... Can they unmake him? Political Power & Social Theory: The Blogpages.
Braunstein, Ruth. 2015. The Tea Party goes to Washington: Mass demonstrations as performative and interactional processes.” Qualitative Sociology 38(4): 353-374. (Lead article).
Braunstein, Ruth, Brad R. Fulton, and Richard L. Wood. 2014. The role of bridging cultural practices in racially and socioeconomically diverse civic organizations. American Sociological Review 79(4): 705-25.
Braunstein, Ruth. 2014. The Good, the Bad, and the Uncivil. Participation and its Discontents.
Braunstein, Ruth. 2014. “Who are ‘We the People’? Multidimensional identity work in the Tea Party,” Pp. 149-173 in Understanding the Tea Party Movement, Nella Van Dyke and David S. Meyer, Eds. Ashgate.
Braunstein, Ruth. 2011. Who are ‘We the People’? Contexts, Spring 2011.