S
OME OF THE MATERIAL FROM SECTION II OF THE INTRODUCTION IS drawn from my chapter “Jeb Stuart’s Revenge: The Civil War, the Religious Right, and American Fascism” in
The Sleeping Giant Has Awoken: The New Politics of Religion in the United States, ed. Jeffrey W. Robbins and Neal Magee (London: Continuum, 2008). Jeffrey W. Robbins coauthored an initial draft of
chapter 5 with me, which was presented at a session of the American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting in November 2007, and he graciously allowed me to rework it and use it in this book. Some material from
chapter 8 is taken from my foreword to Catherine Malabou,
Plasticity at the Dusk of Writing, trans. Carolyn Shread (New York: Columbia University Press, 2009). I want to particularly thank Malabou for her insights and conversation, and especially for her willingness to collaborate with me on an article that served as an earlier version of this chapter, “Plasticity and the Future of Philosophy and Theology,” published in a special issue of
Political Theology (10, no. 4 [2009]), “The Continental Shift,” edited by Creston Davis.
Most of all, I would like to acknowledge and thank my coeditors and editors with Insurrections and Columbia University Press, Jeff Robbins, Creston Davis, Slavoj Žižek, Wendy Lochner, and Christine Mortlock for their support, encouragement, and camaraderie.
Next, I want to thank Catherine Keller, Ward Blanton, and Jeff Robbins for their care and commitment in reading the book manuscript and offering insightful and constructive feedback. Thanks to Danny Finer for compiling the index—semper fi!
For all my friends and colleagues whose conversations and discussions helped me as I worked and thought through these issues, I am extremely grateful. In addition to those already named above, these include, but are not limited to: Noëlle Vahanian, Catherine Malabou, Jack Caputo, Keith Putt, Sharon Baker, Michael Wilson, Natalie Zimmerman, Kevin Mequet, Sara Galvin, Mason Brothers, Sara Harvey, Mary-Ruth Marotte, Phillip Huddleston, Charlie Harvey, Jim Shelton, Peter Mehl, Jesse Butler, Julie Butler, Philip Good-child, Bob Spivey, Oz Lorentzen, Malik Saafir, Aaron Simmons, Jay McDaniel, the late Edith Wyschogrod, Thomas Altizer, Lissa McCullough, Charles Long, Gavin Hyman, Santiago Zabala, Mary-Jane Rubenstein, Ludger Viefhues, David Loy, Danny Finer, Wilson Dickinson, Jeremy Vecchi, Francis Sanzaro, Dan Miller, Craig Martin, Andrew Saldino, David Miller, Alan Richard, Gabe Gentry, Jo Anne Stephens, Jeff Kelly, Matt Chiorini, Brian Campbell, Vic Taylor, Carl Raschke, Joshua Delpech-Ramey, Arvind Mandair, William Robert, Jim DiCenso, Dori Parmenter, Ananda Abeysekara, Brad Johnson, Adam Kotsko, Anthony Paul Smith, Nicole Ferrari, Aaron Barraza, Jairo Barraza, Amanda Wallace, Greg Chatman, Ashley Mathews, and Matthew Creswell.
Finally, I want to thank my family for their love and support—especially my wife, Vicki, and my children, Bryan and Maria, as well as my brother, Clint, and my grandmother, Tollie Spivey. This book is dedicated to my parents, who not only gave me the gift of life but were also my first teachers. Here is a product of their labor.