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Race, Rights, and Rifles
The Origins of the NRA and Contemporary Gun Culture
Language:
English
Published/Copyright:
2023
About this book
An eye-opening examination of the ties between American gun culture and white male supremacy from the American Revolution to today.
One-third of American adults—approximately 86 million people—own firearms. This is not just for protection or hunting. Although many associate gun-centric ideology with individualist and libertarian traditions in American political culture, Race, Rights, and Rifles shows that it rests on an equally old but different foundation. Instead, Alexandra Filindra shows that American gun culture can be traced back to the American Revolution when republican notions of civic duty were fused with a belief in white male supremacy and a commitment to maintaining racial and gender hierarchies.
Drawing on wide-ranging historical and contemporary evidence, Race, Rights, and Rifles traces how this ideology emerged during the Revolution and became embedded in America’s institutions, from state militias to the National Rifle Association (NRA). Utilizing original survey data, Filindra reveals how many White Americans —including those outside of the NRA’s direct orbit—embrace these beliefs, and as a result, they are more likely than other Americans to value gun rights over voting rights, embrace antidemocratic norms, and justify political violence.
Author / Editor information
Alexandra Filindra is associate professor of political science at the University of Illinois, Chicago.
Reviews
“Theoretically ambitious, empirically rich, and politically pertinent, Race, Rights and Rifles examines how guns relate to US citizenship. Reconstructing the political history of guns in the US and dissecting its ongoing impact on the present-day, Race, Rights and Rifles shows how ascriptive republicanism transforms the right to self-defense—a basic human impulse for survival—into a rallying point for political polarization and a justification for an investment in illiberal democracy.”
— Jennifer Dawn Carlson | author of "Merchants of the Right: Gun Sellers and the Crisis of American Democracy"“Why are gun killings in the United States an everyday occurrence? Race, Rights, and Rifles blends intellectual and political history, an eye-opening account of the National Rifle Association (NRA), and contemporary public opinion data to provide compelling answers. Alexandra Filindra shows that the American Revolution fused white male gun ownership with ideals of republican civic virtue in ways that the NRA has long championed. Consequentially, this has led a shocking number of Americans to believe that they have a fundamental right to engage in vigilante violence—like invading the Capitol or shooting a Black teenager who mistakenly knocks on the wrong door.”
— Rogers Smith | University of Pennsylvania"This is a deeply informed, persuasive book, offering a compelling overview of how Americans became militarized and how that militarization is increasing....An enlightening, timely study of the evolution of arguments about gun ownership."
— Kirkus (starred review)"In Race, Rights, and Rifles, Alexandra Filindra embarks on an exploration of the historical trajectory of American gun culture. Tracing the roots of this culture all the way back to the country’s founding era, Filindra succeeds at both deepening our understanding of the history of guns in the US and providing fresh insights into their place in contemporary political life."
— Interest Groups & Advocacy"Amid considerable interest in the future of the National Rifle Association (NRA), Filindra provides a novel and compelling analysis of its origins and development. . . .A great book."
— Choice"An important and well written book on the history and ideological development of the National Rifle Association (NRA), and how the organization has impacted, and ultimately distorted, the proper role of guns in American society."
— Society for US Intellectual HistoryTopics
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Frontmatter
i -
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Contents
vii -
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List of Abbreviations
ix -
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Introduction
1 - Part One: Historical Foundations
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Chapter 1 Republican Ideology in Early America
23 -
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Chapter 2 An Exclusive Vision of Virtue and Citizenship
33 -
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Chapter 3 Militias and the Institutionalization of Ascriptive Republicanism
59 -
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Chapter 4 Cultural Transmission
83 - Part Two: The Origins and Worldview of the NRA
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Chapter 5 The Emergence of the NRA
101 -
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Chapter 6 An Organization of White Men
132 -
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Chapter 7 Political Virtue
148 -
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Chapter 8 Political Corruption
174 -
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Chapter 9 The NRA’s Theory of Democracy
199 - Part Three: Ascriptive Republicanism in Contemporary White Public Opinion
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Chapter 10 Ascriptive Republicanism and White Gun Attitudes Today
237 -
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Chapter 11 From “Stand Your Ground” to “Stand Back and Stand By”
261 -
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Conclusion Democratic Stability in Peril
287 -
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Acknowledgments
295 -
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Notes
299 -
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Index
365 -
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Chicago Studies in American Politics
383
Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
September 27, 2023
eBook ISBN:
9780226828756
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook ISBN:
9780226828756
Keywords for this book
white supremacy; gun culture; republicanism; National Rifle Association; Military history
Audience(s) for this book
For an expert adult audience, including professional development and academic research
