Michael Lee | College of Charleston (original) (raw)

Books by Michael Lee

Creating Conservatism charts the vital role of canonical post-World War II (1945-1964) books in g... more Creating Conservatism charts the vital role of canonical post-World War II (1945-1964) books in generating and sustaining conservatism as a political force in the United States. The Road to Serfdom, Ideas Have Consequences, Witness, The Conservative Mind, God and Man at Yale, The Conscience of a Conservative, and a few other mid-century tracts became influential among conservative office-holders, office-seekers, and well-heeled donors but also at dinner tables, school board meetings, and neighborhood reading groups. These books have been read, studied, applied, promoted, debated, cited, invoked, quoted, and commemorated persistently since the mid-century. Conservative leaders, including Ronald Reagan, even memorized portions of these books. Conservatism, dedicated conservatives have argued for decades, was the product of print, not a march, a protest, or a pivotal moment of persecution. These tomes are remarkable not just because each enumerated conservative political positions, but because their memorable language demonstrated how to take those positions. They were, in essence, debate handbooks, displays of a style of verbal combat that became essential to the public performance of the conservative political language.

Although each book has been a hallowed gateway to conservatism, these gateways have not led readers to the same place. Rather than follow one strain of conservatism, I take an expansive approach to document the wide influence of this conservative canon on traditionalist and libertarian conservatives. The circulation of these common texts was formative in the creation of conservatism as an adaptable political identity that housed differing ideological traditions. Ultimately, I analyze conservatism in many of its manifestations and contradictions, its cautious suspicion that speaks to a human desire to conserve, and its impetuous attitude that demands considerable change in the political world. By exploring the varied uses to which each founding text has been put from the Cold War to the culture wars, I generate original insights about the struggle over what it means to think and speak conservatively in America. Conservatives have turned to canonical works as guidebooks so consistently in periods of triumph, defeat, stability, and division that the canon resembles the dynamic force of the Bible among Christians, an anchor for communal identity and a wellspring of interpretive disagreement simultaneously.

Papers by Michael Lee

In this essay, I try to answer a few basic questions about George W. Bush’s war rhetoric: (1) How... more In this essay, I try to answer a few basic questions about George W. Bush’s war rhetoric: (1) How did the president talk about the Iraqi people specifically and Arabs and Muslims generally? (2) How did that vision of Iraqis, Arabs, and Muslims shape the war and its aftermath? Bush did not talk about tyrants and terrorists the same way he did everyday Arabs and Muslims. Tracking the simplified, singular vision of a democratic, freedom-loving Arab and Muslim Other that the Bush administration anticipated, based policy around, and, in the end, failed to find is vital to account for the failures of the war on terror and to differentiate Bush’s imperialism from fin de siècle imperialists, Orientalists, and garden-variety racists before and after his presidency. The Bush administration went to both war and postwar on the basis of a deeply flawed constitutive framework, but where Arabs and Muslims were concerned, that framework failed because of presumed sameness, not difference. Put differently, calamities in war on terror were due to violence done to those construed as savages and violence enabled by a total failure to strategize around difference.

Rhetoric & Public Affairs, 2012

I aim to locate the scriptural force of American conservatism’s secular canon. My basic claim is ... more I aim to locate the scriptural force of American conservatism’s secular canon. My basic claim is that the canon created and managed the potential for symbolic fusion and fracture among conservatives. The canon provided the tools to weather the rocky marriage between various conservative sects: traditionalists, libertarians, neoconservatives, and others; the canon afforded resources for each faction to establish their bona fides and to protect their version of authentic conservatism from impostors and apostates. I conclude by analyzing the link between the principles of classical conservatism and canonical politics.

Rhetoric & Public Affairs, 2010

William F. Buckley afforded conservatives of all stripes a provocative rhetorical style, a gladia... more William F. Buckley afforded conservatives of all stripes a provocative rhetorical style, a gladiatorial style, as I term it. The gladiatorial style is a flashy, combative style whose ultimate aim is the creation of inflammatory drama. I claim that conservatives encountered Buckley's potent arguments about God, government, and markets and the gladiatorial style simultaneously. The theatrical appeal of Buckley's gladiatorial style inspired conservative imitators with disparate beliefs and, over several decades, became one of the principal rhetorical templates for the performance of conservatism.

Quarterly Journal of Speech, 2006

A sustained form can be located in the complicated history of populist rhetoric. Despite its cham... more A sustained form can be located in the complicated history of populist rhetoric. Despite its chameleonic qualities, the advancement of populism is constituted by alterations in the focus and content, not the structure, of populist activism. This structure, or what I term its argumentative frame, positions a virtuous people against a powerful enemy and expresses disdain toward traditional forms of democratic deliberation and republican representation. I trace these themes through the rhetoric of the People's Party, Huey Long, and George Wallace. I conclude by analyzing the link between populism's persistence in U.S. history and the nation's Founding.

Feminist Media Studies, 2013

This project offers the opportunity to examine the ways in which normative conceptions of class a... more This project offers the opportunity to examine the ways in which normative conceptions of class and gender cohere to produce an archetypal, trans-historical villain, what we term "the rich bitch." In this essay, we employ the concept of irony to analyze how Bravo's The Real Housewives of New York City creates rich women as objects of cultural derision, well-heeled jesters in a populist court. The show primes its savvy, upscale audience to judge the extravagance of female scapegoats harshly in tough economic times. The housewives' class and gender flops are inter-related on the show. The lure of class status produces inconsiderate mothers. Ultimately, The Real Housewives of New York City uses irony to produce a provocative, post-feminist drama about rich women too crass to be classy, too superficial to be nurturing, and too self-obsessed to be caring.

Journal of Applied Communciation Research, 2008

Dualities play an important role in creating the conditions for change and managing planned chang... more Dualities play an important role in creating the conditions for change and managing planned change initiatives. Building on Seo, Putnam, and work, this study focuses on the dualities associated with managing change processes. A case study of a planned change process called the Circle of Prosperity Initiative, a multi-stakeholder dialogue designed to bring information technology to Indian country, was analyzed. Three dualities emerged regarding the structuring and management of the change initiative: (1) inclusionÁexclusion, (2) preservationÁchange, and centralityÁparity. The findings suggested that these dualities were managed using Seo et al.'s (2003) strategy of connection. Notably, the strategy of connection relied heavily on the ability of change agents to set context within and between the different phases of the initiative and involved three specific practices for setting context setting: (1) commonplacing, (2) bounded mutuality, and (3) reflexive positioning.

Argumentation & Advocacy, 2009

Rhetoric & Public Affairs, 2008

Quarterly Journal of Speech, 2006

Teaching Documents by Michael Lee

Creating Conservatism charts the vital role of canonical post-World War II (1945-1964) books in g... more Creating Conservatism charts the vital role of canonical post-World War II (1945-1964) books in generating and sustaining conservatism as a political force in the United States. The Road to Serfdom, Ideas Have Consequences, Witness, The Conservative Mind, God and Man at Yale, The Conscience of a Conservative, and a few other mid-century tracts became influential among conservative office-holders, office-seekers, and well-heeled donors but also at dinner tables, school board meetings, and neighborhood reading groups. These books have been read, studied, applied, promoted, debated, cited, invoked, quoted, and commemorated persistently since the mid-century. Conservative leaders, including Ronald Reagan, even memorized portions of these books. Conservatism, dedicated conservatives have argued for decades, was the product of print, not a march, a protest, or a pivotal moment of persecution. These tomes are remarkable not just because each enumerated conservative political positions, but because their memorable language demonstrated how to take those positions. They were, in essence, debate handbooks, displays of a style of verbal combat that became essential to the public performance of the conservative political language.

Although each book has been a hallowed gateway to conservatism, these gateways have not led readers to the same place. Rather than follow one strain of conservatism, I take an expansive approach to document the wide influence of this conservative canon on traditionalist and libertarian conservatives. The circulation of these common texts was formative in the creation of conservatism as an adaptable political identity that housed differing ideological traditions. Ultimately, I analyze conservatism in many of its manifestations and contradictions, its cautious suspicion that speaks to a human desire to conserve, and its impetuous attitude that demands considerable change in the political world. By exploring the varied uses to which each founding text has been put from the Cold War to the culture wars, I generate original insights about the struggle over what it means to think and speak conservatively in America. Conservatives have turned to canonical works as guidebooks so consistently in periods of triumph, defeat, stability, and division that the canon resembles the dynamic force of the Bible among Christians, an anchor for communal identity and a wellspring of interpretive disagreement simultaneously.

In this essay, I try to answer a few basic questions about George W. Bush’s war rhetoric: (1) How... more In this essay, I try to answer a few basic questions about George W. Bush’s war rhetoric: (1) How did the president talk about the Iraqi people specifically and Arabs and Muslims generally? (2) How did that vision of Iraqis, Arabs, and Muslims shape the war and its aftermath? Bush did not talk about tyrants and terrorists the same way he did everyday Arabs and Muslims. Tracking the simplified, singular vision of a democratic, freedom-loving Arab and Muslim Other that the Bush administration anticipated, based policy around, and, in the end, failed to find is vital to account for the failures of the war on terror and to differentiate Bush’s imperialism from fin de siècle imperialists, Orientalists, and garden-variety racists before and after his presidency. The Bush administration went to both war and postwar on the basis of a deeply flawed constitutive framework, but where Arabs and Muslims were concerned, that framework failed because of presumed sameness, not difference. Put differently, calamities in war on terror were due to violence done to those construed as savages and violence enabled by a total failure to strategize around difference.

Rhetoric & Public Affairs, 2012

I aim to locate the scriptural force of American conservatism’s secular canon. My basic claim is ... more I aim to locate the scriptural force of American conservatism’s secular canon. My basic claim is that the canon created and managed the potential for symbolic fusion and fracture among conservatives. The canon provided the tools to weather the rocky marriage between various conservative sects: traditionalists, libertarians, neoconservatives, and others; the canon afforded resources for each faction to establish their bona fides and to protect their version of authentic conservatism from impostors and apostates. I conclude by analyzing the link between the principles of classical conservatism and canonical politics.

Rhetoric & Public Affairs, 2010

William F. Buckley afforded conservatives of all stripes a provocative rhetorical style, a gladia... more William F. Buckley afforded conservatives of all stripes a provocative rhetorical style, a gladiatorial style, as I term it. The gladiatorial style is a flashy, combative style whose ultimate aim is the creation of inflammatory drama. I claim that conservatives encountered Buckley's potent arguments about God, government, and markets and the gladiatorial style simultaneously. The theatrical appeal of Buckley's gladiatorial style inspired conservative imitators with disparate beliefs and, over several decades, became one of the principal rhetorical templates for the performance of conservatism.

Quarterly Journal of Speech, 2006

A sustained form can be located in the complicated history of populist rhetoric. Despite its cham... more A sustained form can be located in the complicated history of populist rhetoric. Despite its chameleonic qualities, the advancement of populism is constituted by alterations in the focus and content, not the structure, of populist activism. This structure, or what I term its argumentative frame, positions a virtuous people against a powerful enemy and expresses disdain toward traditional forms of democratic deliberation and republican representation. I trace these themes through the rhetoric of the People's Party, Huey Long, and George Wallace. I conclude by analyzing the link between populism's persistence in U.S. history and the nation's Founding.

Feminist Media Studies, 2013

This project offers the opportunity to examine the ways in which normative conceptions of class a... more This project offers the opportunity to examine the ways in which normative conceptions of class and gender cohere to produce an archetypal, trans-historical villain, what we term "the rich bitch." In this essay, we employ the concept of irony to analyze how Bravo's The Real Housewives of New York City creates rich women as objects of cultural derision, well-heeled jesters in a populist court. The show primes its savvy, upscale audience to judge the extravagance of female scapegoats harshly in tough economic times. The housewives' class and gender flops are inter-related on the show. The lure of class status produces inconsiderate mothers. Ultimately, The Real Housewives of New York City uses irony to produce a provocative, post-feminist drama about rich women too crass to be classy, too superficial to be nurturing, and too self-obsessed to be caring.

Journal of Applied Communciation Research, 2008

Dualities play an important role in creating the conditions for change and managing planned chang... more Dualities play an important role in creating the conditions for change and managing planned change initiatives. Building on Seo, Putnam, and work, this study focuses on the dualities associated with managing change processes. A case study of a planned change process called the Circle of Prosperity Initiative, a multi-stakeholder dialogue designed to bring information technology to Indian country, was analyzed. Three dualities emerged regarding the structuring and management of the change initiative: (1) inclusionÁexclusion, (2) preservationÁchange, and centralityÁparity. The findings suggested that these dualities were managed using Seo et al.'s (2003) strategy of connection. Notably, the strategy of connection relied heavily on the ability of change agents to set context within and between the different phases of the initiative and involved three specific practices for setting context setting: (1) commonplacing, (2) bounded mutuality, and (3) reflexive positioning.

Argumentation & Advocacy, 2009

Rhetoric & Public Affairs, 2008

Quarterly Journal of Speech, 2006