Barack Obama’s Body
The Presidency, the Body Politic, and the Contest over American National Identity
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6355355 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Joseph Lowndes (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2013 |
| Volume | 45 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 469-498 |
| Publication date | 2013-10-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Polity (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0032-3497 • E-ISSN: 1744-1684 |
| Publisher | University of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1057/pol.2013.22 |
| OpenAlex | W1974128769 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 7 |
| References cited | 6 |
Beyond the formal powers and duties laid down in the Constitution, the presidency is a cultural institution meant to represent—in a very literal sense—the American people. Presidents act as identificatory figures—symbolizing what their supporters hold sacred about the nation. Presidents' own bodies come to matter particularly at political moments when a new or counter-interpretation of national identity challenges prevailing assumptions. Supporters often interpret their national identity in the figure of the president. As a black candidate in a historically white-ruled nation, Barack Obama's narration of his background as representatively American has been a critical task both as candidate and as president. Both Obama's biography and his visual presence have come to play a part in how political issues, from health care to foreign policy, get framed by both supporters and opponents. But does race stand alone in this dynamic of life story and looks? I analyze the challenges faced and opportunities afforded the Obama presidency by comparing him to earlier presidents who were politically associated with moments of broad change in American politics: Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, all of whom depended heavily on biography and physical embodiment to authorize their vision of national identity. Presidential embodiment ultimately diminishes democratic politics because of the strong fixation on a singular political institution it produces
Constitution · CONTEST · Democracy · Institution · National identity · Political science · Politics · Politics of the United States · Presidency · Presidential system · Sociology · Law · Race, History, and American Society · Rhetoric and Communication Studies · Social and Cultural Dynamics
| Unique citing works | 7 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,7 |
| Citation span | 2016 - 2024 (9) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 7 |